Stu and the Tech Trainee
by Beth - Geek Chick
Summary: Re-post. Stu butts heads with the new tech ops trainee, but when he's struck down by the flu, he's in need of some TLC, and... Original premise courtesy of PoeticallyIncorrect1.


**A/N Repost. Thought I had put this either here or on the livejournal site, but didn't. Oops. Catalyst for this story is a shoutout I received from PoeticallyIncorrect1 for one of her stories, where she gave Stu a girlfriend named "Beth." :) She allowed me to continue their story.**

Amy Baker sat on the metal bench, watching the well-dressed men and women with ID tags similar to her newly acquired one walk past. They all seemed so serious and confident, as if nothing could ever phase them. She let her out her breath and took another deep one, trying to absorb some of their self-assurance. The only energy she felt now was of the nervous nature, as the heels of her three-inch stilettos tapped rapidly against the marble floor.

She'd been in the CIA building for four hours already, but had yet to meet the people she'd been working with. Considering all the paperwork she had to sign, and that extremely personal polygraph test, you'd think she'd be applying for the position of President of the United States instead of just working as a technical analyst for a government agency.

The woman who deposited her on the bench said someone from the tech department would come collect her, but that was a half an hour ago, and she began to feel nervous that they'd forgotten about her. Maybe she should ask someone.

She was actively looking around for the most likely person to confront when she heard a voice to her left speaking her name.

"Amy Elizabeth Baker?"

In her nervous state, she jumped a bit, but quickly stood up and held her hand out. Her eyes fell upon the man standing to her left, offering his own hand. A quick visual summation told her to move her hand to clasp his, and she saw a wide, friendly smile cross his face.

"Yes, I'm Amy Baker."

"Auggie Anderson, good to meet you."

As he felt her hand shake his, Auggie was struck by two things. One, her grip was at once strong and small. He could tell her height was average by where her hand grasped his, but perhaps, like Annie, she added to that height with the heels he heard tapping on the ground as he walked down the hall toward her. The second thing he noticed was the lack of scent. Quite a change from the rest of the female staff. He couldn't remember the last woman he met that didn't have wafts of fruit or flowers emating from her.

"Nice to meet you, too, Mr. Anderson," Amy said, releasing his hand. "Do you work in the tech department?"

"You could say that," Auggie smirked. "If you'll follow me, I'll take you there. Have they told you much about what you'll be doing?"

Amy had to walk a bit faster to keep up with his long strides, but she soon fell into step beside him as they talked. As he strode along, as confident as anyone else around them, she couldn't help but wonder how a blind man came to work for the CIA. That's so freaking cool, she thought, but it was nothing compared to what she saw him carrying. It seemed sort of like a laser cane he used to walk and navigate their way down corridors and through doors.

"Mr. Anderson, can I ask you something?"

Wow, Auggie thought. Usually new people waited until they were at least in the office before bringing up his lack of sight. He opened his mouth to give the usual speech, but she was soon talking again.

"Where on earth did you get that cool laser?"

Auggie's mouth stayed opened at the unexpected question, and he quickly shut it again and shook his head. "It's a prototype."

"Oh," Amy said, a bit disappointed. "So, no chance of me getting my hands on one, is there?"

"You're not -"

"No, I wouldn't need one. I'd just like to get a hold of the works. Its field seems to be ever-changing, not fixed, and -"

Auggie listened as she continued talking, mesmerized a bit by her depth of knowledge and passion. He held up a hand to her, silencing her quickly. "You'll have plenty of toys to play with. The cane is a one of a kind and off-limits."

"Oh, okay," Amy said, trying not to sound so disappointed. She really couldn't help herself, but she had such a fascination with technology and what Mr. Anderson deemed as "toys." She smiled, remembering the first time she'd taken apart a computer just to see what it looked like on the inside. It earned her a month's grounding, and a stern talking-to from her mother, who pointed out that 10-year-olds weren't old enough to understand such things.

Thankfully, though, her school had a computer science teacher who saw her potential and let her play at first, but then she was soon building her own computers and other items. Her aptitude allowed her to gain a lucrative scholarship to MIT, where she excelled, and upon graduation, received a letter of interest from the CIA.

And now, 15 years after she first set her eyes on the green and silver intricacies of a motherboard, she was striding through the halls of a highly classified government agency and being given the opportunity to put her skills to the test.

She now watched as Mr. Anderson took a turn to the left and came upon tall, glass doors set back into the wall, the letters "DPD Domestic Protective Services" set into the glass.

"Miss Baker, welcome to the DPD," Auggie said, swinging the door open to allow her to enter before him.

Amy's head was virtually spinning an hour later. Auggie, whom insisted she stop calling him Mr. Anderson, had introduced her around to all the agents and officers and support staff that were in the office at the time, and she'd shaken more hands than she could count.

Finally, Auggie had led her into the main office of Tech Ops, where she saw his impressive set-up. She'd wanted to bombard him with questions about the equipment she saw laid out, but given how he'd shut her down quickly when she asked about his laser cane, she kept quiet.

"Now that you've met nearly everyone you'll be interacting with, do you have any questions?" Auggie asked, sitting down at his desk, motioning her to take the seat opposite him.

"Not really. I understand my first three months here are merely as a trainee, and after that time, it will be up to you to determine whether or not I'm hired full-time," Amy stated.

"Exactly, though I'm sure you'll have no problem when that time comes. For now, since it's your first day, I'll have you shadowing one of the analysts. He's one of the best ones we have."

"Oh, I assumed you'd be training me," Amy said.

"You sound disappointed." Auggie, smiling and cocking an eyebrow at her.

Amy's cheeks flared red at his words, which, given her light complexion, didn't take much provocation to occur. "No, I just thought that the head of the department would be the one advising his newest employees."

Auggie let his grin slid off his face as he took note of the tone of her voice and rapid-fire speech. Good, he thought. He was hoping she'd have a good head on her shoulders, and given that she didn't giggle and fawn at the slightest bit of flirtation, he knew she'd fit in well with the rest of the crew.

"Usually I would, but a couple of serious missions are on the horizon, and I will have to commit my time to them," Auggie said, hooking his headphones around his neck. "Don't worry, Stu doesn't bite."

"I would certainly hope not," Amy replied with a chuckle. "I don't remember a Stu, though. Did I meet him already?"

"No, he's a couple of rooms down in the tech center. We've received some new equipment, and he's installing it. Why don't you go introduce yourself?"

"Will do. Thank you, Mr. Ander – Auggie."

Amy let herself out of Auggie's office and turned to the left. He had pointed out the side rooms off of the main technical operations center, where all the equipment, databases, and computers were stored. Unlike the other offices and rooms in the department, they were sealed closed, with no windows.

Probably because the equipment needed to be in a sanitary, climate-controlled environment, she thought. She'd encountered the same type of thing at university. Counting down two doors, she pulled on the heavy handle and opened it.

A cool rush of air met her, and she quickly stepped in, shutting the door behind her. Banks of shiny silver, black and blinking blue dots stood in front of her, and she stood there, eyes boggling. Never before had she seen such a large setup, and her fingers twitched with anticipation.

A sudden clatter from behind the database bank startled her, and she suddenly heard a low muttering. She couldn't quite make out the words, so she took a few steps around the corner and stepped carefully over cords on the floor.

The muttering became clearer to her as she rounded the corner. A dark-haired man in a white dress shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow, was lifting a CPU into an empty slot of the database bank and apparently having a hard time of it.

Amy instantly saw the problem, that a stray cord from the CPU next to it had gotten wedged into the empty slot. "Here, let me help you," she said, stepping up to the man and reaching over his shoulder to yank the cord out.

"What the –" he shouted, jerking reflexively from the sudden voice behind him and arm that materialized out of nowhere next to his head.

A quick move by both him and Amy saved the CPU from crashing to the floor, and as she saw that he had secure, Amy stepped back.

Stu steadily sat the CPU back on the floor and turned around. Every epithet he could think of was fighting for space on his tongue at the person who dared enter a restricted space, and on top of that, had the stupidity to startle him while he handled a piece of equipment that cost more than he got paid in a month.

Those curses slipped away, though, as his eyes fell upon that person. The first thing he saw were bright green eyes, which darted between looking at him and looking at the floor, lined by impossibly long lashes. Her dark hair was pulled back from her face, but falling down her back, and as his eyes slid down the rest of her, he took in her slight, curvy body in a black blazer, a skirt that hit below her knees and stiletto pumps.

Amy felt another blush creeping onto her cheeks at his frank perusal, and she breathed hard to stifle it. The task proved difficult, however, as the person she surmised was the "Stu" stared at her. When he didn't say anything after a few seconds, she dared a look directly into his face.

What she saw there caused her mouth to instantly go dry, and her lips parted to take in a desperately needed breath. His dark brow and impossibly soft brown eyes bore into hers, and she found she couldn't tear hers away from them.

As the seconds ticked by, Amy's brain jerked her back to the present, and she clapped her mouth shut and stuck out her hand to him. "I'm Amy Baker."

Stu regarded her proferred hand and stared at it as though he'd never seen an offered handshake in his life. Reason slowly clicked on in his brain, and he slid his hand into hers.

Her hand felt at once soft and strong, and they gripped each other tightly. When she let go, he looked again into her eyes, suspicion creeping his mind. "What are you doing here? This area is restricted."

Amy was nearly taken aback at his harsh tone, a total change from the softness she saw in his eyes. "Mr. Anderson – I mean, Auggie told me to find you in here."

When she didn't elaborate, Stu shook his head and turned again to the CPU on the floor. "Well, you can tell Auggie I've already had my lunch, so it isn't necessary to send one of the secretaries in to get my lunch order."

"Excuse me?" Amy asked.

"Oh, sorry," Stu said, hefting the CPU back up. Without the cord in the way, he easily slid it into its place beside the others. "Your title is administrative assistant nowadays, huh?"

"You are Stu, aren't you?"

"Yes, Stuart Heatherton, senior tech analyst for the Department of Protective Services."

"I'm Amy Baker –"

"Yeah, you already said –"

"Tech analyst trainee for the Department of Protective Services."

Stu was busy separating out the different cords to hook the CPU into the mainframe at her statement, and he froze at her words. "You're a tech analyst?"

Amy was slowly getting annoyed at the line of questioning and the tone of his voice, though it wasn't the first time she'd come up against the kind of chauvinism and disbelief in her new line of work. "Auggie has my resume, if you'd like to have a look at it," she said, making sure to add every ounce of sarcasm she could muster in her voice. When he didn't respond, she added, "He also said that I'm supposed to be shadowing you for the next three months to learn the ropes. I hope that's not going to create a problem for you."

Stu dropped the cords at his feet, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to search for a reply. No, Auggie wouldn't drop a trainee on him, he thought. Not with huge project he'd just assigned him of upgrading the entire database network. And not with some fresh-out-of-college newbie who nearly caused him to wreck a piece of equipment costing thousands of dollars. When he couldn't think of a proper reply to her bombshell of a statement, he decided to go ask Auggie about it. No way could he do this, play teacher to someone who chose to wore stilettos and a tight skirt to work in their field.

"Come with me," he said, stalking past Amy and walking out of the tech center, rolling down his sleeves in the process. He grabbed his suit jacket off the back of the door and slid it on before opening the heavy door.

Amy walked quickly behind him, growing a bit more apprehensive on the short walk to Auggie's office. Everyone she met so far had been so friendly and welcoming. It's just her luck that the one person she'd be dealing with on a one-on-one basis had to act like a total hard-ass.

"Stay here," Stu said as he slid open Auggie's glass door. He shut it behind him, and Amy was left staring through.

"Ugh, what a chauvinististic pig," she muttered, turning away from the glass so she wouldn't have to look at either him nor Auggie as they talked. She leaned against the door frame and looked up to see one of the agents, Annie Walker, if she remembered correctly, looking directly at her.

"Excuse me, but who's a chauvinistic pig?" Annie asked, chuckling and walking up to her.

"I'm sorry, that wasn't very nice to say, but I was referring to Stu, and given what he just said to me, it's an adequate description," Amy said, crossing her

arms in front of her.

"Stu, the tech analyst, is a chauvinistic pig? He's a sweetheart. Where did you get the idea that he's a chauvinist?"

"The fact that he just called me a secretary, and when I informed him that I was hired to be a tech analyst, he marched here into Auggie's office. He's probably trying to get me fired."

"That doesn't sound like the Stu I know," Annie said thoughtfully. "Maybe he's just having a bad day?"

"I don't know, but –"

Just then Auggie's door slid open, and he ducked his head out. "Amy?"

"Yes, I'm here."

"Would you step inside here, please?"

With a smile and a nod from Annie, Amy straightened her shoulders and walked in behind Auggie, sliding the door shut behind her. When her boss took his seat behind his desk, she glanced a look over at Stu, who stood there refusing to meet her eyes.

"First of all, I'd like to apologize," Auggie said, "to both Stu and you, Amy, for not introducing you formally. I hadn't realized Stu had been busy in the tech center and hadn't received the e-mail I sent him this morning."

Amy tried to concentrate on her boss' words, but she found herself stealing glances over at Stu, whose eyes were downcast.

"I've explained to Stu that I'd like for you to shadow him over the next few months, and given your background and aptitude, Amy, you should be able to help him with the database project he's working on now," Auggie said. "Any questions?"

"Not from me," Amy said.

"Stu?" Auggie asked.

"Fine, Auggie. Sounds great."

Amy couldn't tell from the tone of his voice whether or not he was telling the truth, but he did seem a bit less standoffish than he had been a few minutes before. She relaxed a bit. Maybe this would work out, after all.

"Excellent. So I'll leave you to it, then," Auggie said, sliding his headphones back on his ears.

Stu nodded and turned toward Amy, who looked at him with a mix of mistrust and wonder. Great way to make a first impression, Heatherton, he thought. He slid open Auggie's door and motioned for her to pass in front of him, a small, apologetic smile crossing his face.

Amy smiled back, a movement that caused her bright green eyes to light up in her face, and she walked out of the office, catching Annie's eye as she did so.

Annie watched as Stu and Amy walked out of the office and down the hallway. From the look on both of their faces, whatever disagreement they'd had had vanished, and she watched as Stu's hand moved to lightly touch Amy's elbow as they disappeared out of sight.

Intrigued, she slipped out from behind her desk and walked into Auggie's office. "Hey, Auggie."

"Annie, what's up?"

"That's a loaded question. I was going to ask the same thing of you."

"What?" Auggie asked with a light laugh.

"Amy told me Stu was acting like a chauvinistic pig toward her, yet they just left looking as if they'd known each other for years. What's the story there?" she asked, leaning against his desk.

Auggie tilted his head toward her. "The woman's here for less than a day, and you're already fishing for some gossip? Annie, that's not like you."

"Come on, you gotta tell me," Annie cajoled. "Stu has never struck me as the type to be a caveman, so what did he say to her to make her think that?"

"Well, it seems as though Stu didn't read his e-mail this morning before starting work, and Amy took him by surprise when she introduced herself to him."

"Huh," Annie said. "I guess that'd explain some of it, but why –"

"Why would he act like a jackass to a beautiful woman he just met?" Auggie finished for her.

"Yeah, I mean, with those eyes – wait a minute, how do you know she's beautiful?" Annie asked, a touch of skepticism in her voice.

"You think I introduced her around just to be social? Annie, you know me better than that. I needed to see what others thought of her, and from what I could tell, she's a small woman, though she tries to add to it by some stilettos, she has long hair, and from what you've just said, her eyes are striking. She's already got most of the male staff here panting," Auggie finished, smiling at her.

"Huh, so you think maybe Stu got a little starry-eyed when she just appeared in front of him?"

"Seems that way, don't you think?"

"Wow," Annie said, chuckling. "I can't wait to see what happens with those two."

"And on that note, don't you have some work to do? I believe a mission is upcoming?"

"Oh, you're right," Annie said, jumping up from her perch on his desk. "Hey, you'll keep me apprised, won't you?"

"Work, Annie," Auggie said, pointing toward his door.

"Spoilsport," Annie said, sticking her tongue out at him as she slid his door shut.

Chapter 2: Chapter 2

The light touch on her elbow of Stu's fingers was a far cry from how they'd walked away from the tech center, but Amy could still feel the same "come with me" attitude in his grip. With as surreptitious a move as she could muster without being obvious, she slid her elbow out of his grasp as they walked down the hall.

Thankfully, his fingers slid away without protest. Amy took a deep breath through her nose, gathering her courage and willing herself to make a better second impression on her co-worker than her first one did. Out of the dozens of people she had met and shook hands with and exchanged pleasantries and smiles today, Stu was the only one who hadn't automatically return her smile. And given that she'd be working closely with him over the next few months, Amy hoped they could be friends, or at least less-than-enemies.

When they'd reached the tech center door, Amy reached out to grasp the handle, only to be met by Stu's fingers intent on the same task of opening the door. When he didn't move his hand, Amy gave in and released the handle. A look up to his face showed surprise and a slightly raised eyebrow. Amy didn't take the bait, only stepped aside to allow him to open the door.

They walked in, and Stu was removing his suit jacket and placing it on the back of the door again when he turned to her. Rolling up his sleeves, his eyes took in her attire from head to toe. "Do you plan on wearing that every day?"

His tone was different this time, almost emotionless, and Amy was caught off guard. "What – what's wrong with what I'm wearing? Every woman out there had on the same thing."

"Every woman out there will not be crawling under desks and behind walls to install equipment," Stu pointed out, rolling up his sleeves. "How do you plan on doing that in a tight skirt?"

"Ohh, I see what you mean," Amy said. "It's my first day. I just thought the power suit was the best way to make a good first impression."

Stu smiled, "It seems you have. Auggie likes you, and he's a good judge of character."

Amy returned his smiled at this piece of information. "Thanks."

Taking her cue from him, she removed her own suit jacket and hung it up over his on the hook on the door. She was wearing a silk tank underneath, and the cool air blowing out from the air conditioning units caused a flush of gooseumps to climb up her arms. She rubbed them automatically and said, "But you're right, tomorrow pants, definitely. And a long-sleeved shirt."

She went to walk past him, but his hand on her bare upper arm stopped her. Unlike the touch of his fingers on her jacket-clad elbow, this flesh-on-flesh contact caused another ripple of goosebumps, and she stepped back quickly, trying not to let her reaction show. It did, however, show in her voice. "Is there something else?" she asked.

Stu hastily dropped his hand from her arm, as her eyes sparked up at him. "Yes, as a matter of fact, there is," he said, dropping his eyes down to her feet. "Unless you plan on walking a runway, four-inch stilettos aren't good for much else."

Amy's eyes followed his down to her shoes. "Oh, come on. What difference does it make what type of shoes I wear?"

"Let's just say I don't want to spend the next three months catching you every time you trip over a cable."

The mental image of Stu doing just that flashed through Amy's mind, and she shut her eyes to clear it. She'd never been very good at flirting and wasn't sure right at that moment whether he was serious or teasing her. One look at his face would tell her which it was, and she slowly opened her eyes and risked a glance.

Imperceptible. Sure, it was a 50-cent word and not used very often in conversation, but it was the only one that made sense at that moment as Amy's eyes met Stu's. She just couldn't tell much from his expression, and so she took the coward's way out and decided he was serious.

"I understand, and I'm sure catching falling damsels is nowhere in your job description," she said. "But 'walking a runway' isn't the reason I wear these."

Being careful to balance herself as she wriggled her hose-clad feet out of the shoes, Amy stepped out of them. She kicked them over beside the wall and tilted her head to look up at him. "Now do you see why?"

The move had dropped her height four inches, and Amy now found herself eye-level with Stu's chest. "It's bad enough working as a woman in a mainly male-dominated workplace. Being this short makes it worse."

"What does being short have to do with working in our field?"

Amy smirked, shaking her head, "Being a guy, you wouldn't know, but believe me, having your hair ruffled by your professors as they walk past isn't the best of ego-boosters."

Stu laughed, and he was about to reply that he promised never to ruffle her hair when she turned on her heel and walked past him. He didn't stop her this time, only followed her with his eyes as she moved behind the databank. Even if he had known to expect a new, female tech trainee that morning, he doubted he'd be anymore surprised than he was at that moment.

Amy Baker was – he really had no idea. Her whole "I can take care of myself" attitude intrigued him, though he wasn't quite sure how deeply ingrained it was. He'd seen her blush when they first met, and he couldn't be sure, but those goosebumps on her arm when he'd touched her weren't directly from the cool air.

Any other thoughts about his new co-worker dissipated as he heard her voice. "Hey, going to give me a hand with these, or should I do it myself?"

Stu nearly sprinted over to her and his mouth gaped open as he saw the cables and cords he'd been separating and sorting a few minutes ago draped over her arm. "What are you doing?"

Amy froze at the harsh tone, the same he used when he asked what she was doing there when she initially walked in. The first time she heard it, it had startled her, but now it rang hard in her ears, and she bristled. Setting her teeth, she straightened up and extended her arm down, allowing the cords to fall in a tangle at her feet.

"I'm sorry," she said without any hint of apology in her voice. "I thought our boss instructed me to help you with this, but clearly, I was mistaken."

Stepping back, Amy leaned against the wall and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She knew her attitude was a bit over the top, but there was just something about Stu that brought out the worst in her.

Stu stared at her, a sense of déjà vu washing over him. Once again, they were at odds, with him desperate to keep her newbie, unknowning fingers off the computers, and her desperate to place those fingers on everything she saw in front of her.

A second trip to Auggie's office was out of the question, of course, but Stu wasn't quite sure how to rebuild this bridge that'd now been burned twice. He took half a step toward her, but then thought better of it. Instead, he simply looked at her, taking in her defiant stance, which was just as intimidating sans the stilettos. Her features, though, were a different story. Her chin jutted out, but her eyes belied her pose.

And as he watched her for a few seconds more, he read something in those green depths. A sort of nervousness, as though she were afraid of do or say anything else. Her harsh words, sarcasm and crossed arms spoke of confidence and self-assurance, but those emotions didn't quite meet her eyes. She was scared. Not of him, he knew, and he wasn't sure of the exact cause of the emotion, but it was there.

"What are you afraid of?" he asked, not able to stop himself.

Amy started at his question, and her eyes dropped to the floor. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not afraid of anything."

But surely she did and was, Stu thought, as her body language slid from strong and confident to suddenly looking for somewhere to hide. Instinctively, he knew not to press any further, but he stored the nugget of information away. Right now, he had a job to do, and the puzzle that was Amy Baker would have to wait 'til later to be solved.

"Right," he said evenly, beckoning her back over. When she had given up her wall of support and stepped back over beside him, he said, "Before we go any further, let me explain what this database project consists of, and then we can divvy up the duties."

"Sounds great," Amy said, though she was still smarting a bit at his prior question.

"Now, rule number one, as I'm sure you've figured out already, is don't touch anything without my instruction," Stu said. "And before you go huffing and stomping off again, let me explain. This equipment," he said, sweeping his arm around, "altogether is worth millions of dollars, and the majority of it cannot be replicated. That CPU that I nearly dropped when you tried to help me before? Costs more than what I make in a month."

Amy nodded, "Understood. Touch nothing."

"I didn't say you couldn't touch anything," Stu replied. "Just, be careful when you do."

An hour later, Stu had the rest of the CPUs in their new home, their blue lights blinking happily away. Amy had kept her promise not to touch anything without his instruction, but she proved herself useful and knowledgable, and soon they were chatting away about the entire project. Amy's passion about the field was evident and enthusiastic, and Stu knew he'd found a kindred spirit.

When the last of the cables had been inserted, and the loose cords tucked into position, he stood, stretching his arms above his head to loosen out the knots. He watched as Amy repeated his movements, though with less smoothness, given her attire.

"Well, that's the back-breaking part of the job done," he said with a grateful smile. "Thanks for the help. I'd still be here for another hour without you."

Amy returned his smile and was about to open her mouth to reply when her stomach replied for her with a loud growl.

Stu frowned at her, "Haven't you eaten yet? It's already 2pm."

"Well, no," Amy said sheepisly. "They kept me busy all morning signing papers and reciting pledges not to do my country any harm, and then Auggie introduced me all around, and then I got thrown in here with you."

"You should have said something," Stu said, rolling his sleeves back down his arms.

"I would have, but I was too busy being berated for touching things," Amy retorted before she could stop herself.

Stu opened his mouth to argue, but quickly closed it again and walked past her toward the door where his jacket coat hung. Thankfully, she didn't say anything else, but followed him, and they both shrugged back into their suit jackets, and Amy slid her shoes back onto her feet.

"Where to now?" she asked, as she stood now more on eye level with him.

"Food court," he said.

"Didn't you say you'd already eaten lunch?"

"Not for me," he said, opening the heavy door. "I'm not going to get much work done if I'm distracted by your growling stomach."

At first, Amy thought he was making another smart remark, but a quick glance over at him showed the corners of his mouth upturned, and she realized he was teasing her. "No, I guess not," she agreed. "I'd like to wash up first, though, if you don't mind?"

They walked out of the department, and Amy excused herself into the ladies room while Stu stood outside, waiting for her. The door opened a couple of times, and he was greeted by the raised eyebrows of a couple of women as to his presence there. He ignored them as best he could, but began to wonder if he should have told Amy he'd meet her at the food court.

"Hey, Stu, how's it going?"

Stu turned to see Annie come out of the ladies room. "Annie, hi, going well. And yourself?"

Taking the tech analyst by the elbow, Annie pulled him a couple of steps past the doorway. "I saw Amy in there. Guess you're waiting for her, huh?"

"Uhh, yeah," Stu said, nodding. "She hadn't eaten yet, so I was taking her to the food court."

"She seems nice," Annie said, smiling.

"She is, actually, and very intelligent," Stu agreed. "We, umm, kind of butted heads at first, but I think she'll fit in well here."

Whatever else Annie was going to say was interrupted by Amy's return. "Ready to go?" she said, walking up to them. "Oh, hi, Annie, was it?"

"Yes, hi. You two heading off to lunch?"

"Just me, been busy all day, and, well, I forgot to," Amy said.

Annie nodded, "I'll see you around, then."

They'd made it to the food court, and Stu guided her to the line, where he pointed out the menu and available items. Amy was glad for his help, as this part of the building hadn't been part of her initial tour.

When the worker behind the counter asked her what she wanted, she said, "Chef's salad with French dressing. And a diet raspberry lemonade with extra raspberries."

The worker, a middle-aged woman with curly hair that had gone slightly frizzed with the heat of the equipment she worked with, raised her eyebrows at her order. "We got the drink, but it comes bottled, and we don't carry fresh berries."

"Ohh," Amy said, slightly disappointed. "Guess I'll just have the bottled stuff, then."

As the worker turned away to get the items, Amy glanced over at Stu, who was staring at her like she had been speaking a foreign language. "What?"

"Diet raspberry lemonade with extra raspberries?"

"So what? It's my drink."

Stu raised his hands in surrender, "Whatever you say, though if you want to drink it at work, you may have to smuggle in your own raspberries."

"Yeah, right, and run the risk of setting off a security incident when the guards out front notice an odd bulge in my jacket pocket? I don't think so," she said, laughing.

"Miss?"

Amy turned again to the curly-haired worker and accepted the laden tray she handed to her. Stu pointed her down to the cashier, and she quickly paid for the meal. She felt Stu's touch on her elbow again as she turned away from the cashier, tray in hand.

"Where do you want us to sit?" he asked.

"Anywhere, it doesn't matter," Amy replied and allowed him to guide her to an empty table. When she'd laid the tray on the table and sat down in the plastic seat, she was surprised to see Stu drop himself into the one opposite her.

"You don't have to stay," she said. "I mean, if you've got work to do or something."

Stu shook his head, "Nah, I was due for a break. Besides, I can't have you running around by yourself here, you know, touching things."

A couple of hours ago, Amy would have set her jaw at this statement, but now the words came with a glint in his wide brown eyes, and she smiled at him. Yeah, she thought, Stu had definitely slid from the "less-than-enemies" category she'd relegated him to earlier, into that of a potential friend.

Chapter 3: Chapter 3

Amy walked down the hall, her eyes searching all around for Stu. She'd been there for three days, helping him, and today was the day they were supposed to bring the new computers online with the mainframe. He'd told her yesterday to meet him in the tech center when she arrived the next morning, but after sitting in the air-conditioned room for an hour, he still hadn't shown.

Sliding open Auggie's door, Amy said, "Excuse me, Auggie? Have you seen Stu?"

"Amy?" Auggie asked, pulling off his headphones and turning toward the door. "Yeah, he called in this morning, guess he's caught the flu bug that's been going around."

"So he won't be here?" Amy asked, slightly flustered.

"Is that a problem? Surely, he's detailed the work you're supposed to be doing. Could you just work on that until he's back in the office?"

"Well, yeah, I could, but we're supposed to bring the computers online to the mainframe today, or at least start to," Amy said, pacing in front of Auggie's desk. "I know what he wants me to do, but I can't do any of that without his access first. You wouldn't be able to –"

Auggie shook his head, "Sorry, but access to that project, given the sensitive nature of it, has been limited directly to the ones working on it." Frowning, he leaned back in his chair. "I guess you've finished everything else up until this point, huh?"

"Yep."

"Tell you what, Stu only called in half an hour ago. He said he was going back to bed, but maybe he's still awake enough to give us something. Can't have you twiddling your thumbs for a week, can we?"

Amy watched as her boss slid a high-tech Bluetooth type device into his ear. She'd give anything to sit down with him for an hour to talk about his one-of-a-kind equipment. Maybe she could talk him into it after she'd proven herself in a few months.

"Damn, he's not picking up," Auggie said, removing the Bluetooth from his ear.

"Oh, no," Amy said with a sigh.

"Yeah. Listen, why don't you just hang out? I'm sure something'll come up, and you could observe."

"I wouldn't want to get in your way," Amy said with a smile. After thinking for a minute, she said, "Stu lives by himself, I guess?"

"Yeah, why?" Auggie asked.

"Well, I guess he would, if nobody answered the phone, or maybe –" Amy shook her head to clear it. "I was just thinking, if you could give me his address, I could go over there and get the information I needed, and then he'd be able to rest and get better without having to wonder about his project."

"Amy, he's got the flu, and he's probably sleeping, do you think –"

"I'll just be there for a few minutes, and I'll make sure he goes right back to sleep," Amy pleaded. "I promise."

Auggie sighed. "You do know personnel information like that is classified, right?"

"Yes," Amy said quietly, her voice full of hope.

"But you want me to give it to you, anyway," Auggie said, fighting back a small smile. Amy in some ways reminded him of Annie with her quick mind and intelligence. "And, given your computer skills, I'm sure you could find it on your own in a short amount of time."

Amy bit back a smile at this. She'd already thought of doing that, but why summon the wrath of her boss if she were caught if she could ask nicely and get it?

"Okay, but if anyone asks –"

"I was never here," Amy said, picking up a pen from his desk to write the address down. When Auggie had recited the numbers and street, Amy said, "Huh, this is only a couple miles from my place."

"Then you should have no problem finding it," Auggie said. "Go now, be back in an hour."

"Thanks, Auggie," Amy said, with a hand on his shoulder. He nodded, and she walked quickly back to the tech center to grab her coat.

Amy looked again at the slip of paper. Apartment 4E was Stu's place, and when the elevator doors opened on the fourth floor, she walked out, scanning the hallway, reading down the letters until she came to E.

A plastic garbage bag was set outside of it, and as Amy neared it at the end of the hall, she saw the door slightly ajar. Glancing back down to the bag, she grabbed it up and took it to the slot she saw in the wall labeled Refuse and deposited it.

Then she walked quickly back to the apartment door. Though the door was still not completely closed, she knocked. The door swung open with her knocking, and she watched as the interior of Stu's apartment came within her sight.

The shades on the windows were still closed, and no interior lights were on, throwing the large studio apartment into shadows. Taking one step inside, Amy slowly and quietly shut the door behind her and swept her eyes around the room.

She could make out a couch and tv and shelving units, a computer desk, and what she believed to be a kitchen counter, but the rest of the room was in shadow. She took a few more tentative steps in, her eyes becoming accustomed to the dim room. Then, along the back wall, she saw him. Or rather, she heard Stu as he turned over with a grunt.

With a sigh of relief, she walked over to him, her heels clicking somewhat loud in the quiet room. When she came up alongside the bed, a wave of sympathy washed over her as she saw took in the scene before her.

Stu was still in the clothes he wore yesterday, minus the suit jacket, but his white dress shirt was evident beneath the tangled sheet. He turned again in his sleep, flopping over onto his back. The sliver of light coming in from the room's window fell across his face, and Amy frowned at the beads of sweat covering his forehead. His normally dusky tan skin looked slightly paler than normal, and Amy fought an automatic urge to brush her hand across his forehead to ascertain the severity of his fever.

"Stu?" she whispered. When he didn't respond, Amy repeated his name, a bit louder with the same response. As much as she didn't want to, Amy still bent over, reaching out to touch his face before her hand slid lower and lightly brushed his hand as it lay across his chest.

"Stu?"

The next few seconds were a blur, and all that Amy remembered was suddenly sitting on the bed, Stu's hand wrapped tightly around her wrist, and his eyes wild as they stared into hers a few inches away.

She squeaked out his name again, fear nearly paralyzing her vocal cords.

As the haze of sleep slowly faded and his fever-induced dream slid away, Stu became aware of what his eyes were showing him: Amy Baker sitting in his bed, her eyes wide with fear and concern. He also felt her soft, cool skin beneath his fingers. His eyes went to where his hand was and saw that he gripped her wrist tightly.

He heard her voice squeak out his name again, and his eyes flew to hers. He saw a twinge of fear and pain in them, and he released her. "What the hell are you doing here?" he growled.

Amy instinctively rubbed her wrist, noting how hot the skin felt. His question and the harshness with which he spoke it rankled her a bit, but she'd heard it before, and she refused to be intimidated by it again. "You didn't come in today. I needed some information."

Stu stared at her and shook his head. "Not now, Amy."

"But I can't do anything without your access code. I just thought –"

Her next words were cut off as Stu suddenly flew out of the bed, nearly crawling over her lap to do so. His hand was over his mouth, and he headed into a nearby doorway.

Concerned, Amy followed him, opening the door he shut. The harsh light of the bathroom hit her eyes, and she blinked against its brightness. Stu huddled over the toilet, throwing up, seemingly unaware of her presence.

When the last of what was in his stomach had left, Stu reached his hand up to flush the toilet and then pushing away from the cold porcelain, he sat back against the tub, his eyes closed as he tried to regain his breath.

He'd been steadily losing his lunch since after midnight, and he marveled at how anything could still be available in his stomach. A sudden coolness across his forehead made him jerk, and he opened his eyes to find Amy crouched beside him with a washcloth in her hand.

She reached her hand out again to place it against his forehead, and he deftly plucked it out of her grip to do the task himself. "Thanks," he said.

Amy nodded, watching as he unfolded the cloth and pressed it completely against his face. He seemed to relax as the cold cloth met his skin, and she smiled a bit. "Looks like you're in pretty bad shape."

Stu nodded behind the cloth.

"And I guess it hit you pretty hard, considering you're still wearing yesterday's outfit."

Stu chuckled a bit and nodded again. "Sorry you had to see me like this, and I'm also sorry I grabbed you like that. You woke me up," he said, folding the washcloth and pressing it against his forehead. The headache he'd gone to sleep with made its return, and he groaned.

"Don't worry," Amy said. "Everybody gets sick. I'm used to it, actually, since I had to take care of my Mom all that time."

Stu opened his eyes at this and was about to press for more information when his stomach heaved again, and he pushed off his heels to reach the toilet again.

Amy fought the urge to place her arm across his shoulders and whisper that everything was going to be all right, but she knew such a move wouldn't be welcome. There were a couple of things she could do, though, and she stood up and left the bathroom.

When Stu was sure that his stomach had settled, at least for the time being, he stood and stepped over to the sink, letting the cold water run. He filled his hands with it and splashed it up onto his face, welcoming the coolness on his flushed skin. After a quick brush of his teeth, he felt slightly better.

He was drying his hands when a small knock at the bathroom door sounded, and it opened. Amy walked in, clothing in her hands.

"Here, I found a t-shirt and shorts you could change into."

Stu stared at her as she held the clothing out to him. He reached out and took them from her hands. "Uhh, thanks," he said, wanting to make a comment about her presumptiveness, but given how bad he felt, he knew it'd come across harder than he meant it. Instead, he gave her a small smile, which she returned.

His fingers went to the buttons on his shirt, and he was halfway down them when he realized she hadn't moved. "Amy? Do you mind?"

"Ohh, yeah, sorry," Amy said, slightly flustered. Her eyes had been glued to the reflection in the mirror of Stu unbuttoning his shirt, and with a slight blush creeping up her cheeks, she stepped quickly out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

Turning around to the bed, she looked at the tangled sheets. She knew that given his high fever, they'd probably be soaked and uncomfortable. With a quick yank, she stripped both the top and bottom sheet off of the bed and rolled them into a ball, dropping them into a corner. She'd seen the sheets on a shelf below his clothing, and she quickly had his bed made again, complete with new pillowcase.

She'd just finished the task when the bathroom door opened, and Stu appeared, looking slightly better, but still pale against the whiteness of the t-shirt. "I changed your sheets, so you should be able to sleep better."

"I see that," Stu said, his eyes moving from his now inviting bed to the woman who stood beside it with a smile on her face. He opened his mouth to ask her why she was doing all this, but another wave of nausea came over him. He shut his eyes to let it clear, and only opened them when he felt her arm come around his waist.

"Come on, you need to lay back down," Amy said, leading him back over to the bed. She took his weight as he sagged against her, and she struggled a bit on her heels as they shuffled across to the bed. Soon he was sitting on the bed, and she laid him back down against the pillows. "Shh, just rest. I'll take care of everything," she said, this time allowing her fingers to brush against his hot forehead.

When she saw that he'd slipped off to sleep again, she stood. She knew she couldn't leave him like this, and so, shrugging off her jacket and slipping off her shoes, she set about her tasks.

A half hour later, she was placing a small trash can lined with plastic beside the bed when Stu awakened.

"Amy?"

"Shh, I'm still here. You feeling any better?" Amy asked. Then, frowning, she said, "Stupid question. Of course, you're not feeling better, but you will be soon."

"Amy, what –"

"Don't over-exert yourself," Amy said. "There's a couple of bottles of water on your nightstand, and a thermometer if you want to keep track of your temperature. And so you won't have to run to the bathroom every time, there's a can here for you."

"Amy, stop," Stu said, sitting up. His back protested, his muscles aching. He looked up at her, standing a couple of feet away. Her face showed concern and sympathy, and he immediately regretted snapping at her. How she managed to ingratiate herself into his life so quickly and completely completely surprised and befuddled him, but given his fever-addled state of mind, he was in no condition to figure out the whys right now.

"Thank you," he said simply, knowing it was the truth and what she needed to hear right then. Her answering smile dissipated the tension in the room, and he reached over to the nightstand to grab one of the bottles of water.

He'd taken a drink when he became aware of a pleasant smell wafting through the room. "Are you cooking?"

"Ohh! I forgot the soup!" Amy shouted, padding on her feet over to the stove where she saw the chicken noodle soup she'd put on to heat nearly bubbling over. After a few minutes, she had a bowl prepared and the rest of the soup cooling in a plastic container on the countertop.

Grabbing a spoon and a napkin, she brought it over to the bed and carefully laid it on the nightstand. "It should settle your stomach a bit, but I'd wait for it to cool so you don't burn your tongue."

Stu nodded and again thanked her. Another beaming smile from her cheered him, and he lay back on the pillows, taking a deep breath. Just the smell of the soup helped dissipate the nausea, and he hoped he'd be able to digest it without throwing it back up.

"Well, I'd better be getting back. I told Auggie I'd only be gone an hour, and I'm sure he's thinking I got lost or something."

"Amy, wait," Stu called out. When she'd walked back over to him, he looked at her for a few seconds, their eyes locking. "Why did you come here?" he whispered.

"Oh, right," Amy said, finding herself getting lost in his intense gaze. "The database project, we were going to start putting them online today, remember?"

Stu nodded.

"Well, I can do my part, what you outlined for me to do, but I need your access code."

A slight wave of disappointment swept over him, but before he could allow himself to try to decipher it, he broke his gaze with her. "Right, the access code. If you'll get me a piece of paper, I can write it down for you."

Amy waited for him to write the code down and held her hand out for the paper. "Thanks. I should be able to get at least some work done before you come back. And don't worry, I promise not to touch anything without knowing what I'm doing first."

Stu placed the paper in her outstretched hand, and before she could pull away, he grasped her wrist, more gentle than before, though the coolness of her skin was the same against his fingers. "I trust you, Amy," he said quietly. "And really, thank you. For all this."

Amy nodded, not trusting her voice to speak as the heat of his hand transferred to her skin and traveled up her arm. She tried telling herself it was merely the fever that caused it, but a niggle in her brain and heart wanted to believe something else.

When more than a few seconds passed and neither of them had moved, she averted her gaze from his and felt his fingers slide from her wrist. "I – I've gotta get back to work. You are going to eat that soup, right?"

Without waiting for an answer, Amy walked across the room to the front door. "Oh, and since you don't really have any food in your refrigerator other than leftover pizza and takeout, I'll pick something up after work and bring it by. About 6:00?"

And with that and a soft click of his door, Stu was left alone, the room feeling suddenly more quiet and less cheery with her departure. What the hell just happened, he thought. The smell of the soup wafted over him again, and he sat up, reaching for the hot bowl.

Chapter 4: Chapter 4

Stu was stumbling out of the bathroom for maybe the seventh time that day – he was starting to lose count – when he heard a pounding. No, a knocking. The pounding was in his head, and the knocking was a different type of sound. A small hand, perhaps, knocking on the wooden frame of his door.

He squinted at the luminous display of the clock by his bed. A little past 6pm. He'd slept nearly all day, ever since Amy had came over that morning. He moaned, remembering her promise to come back after work. And here she was, knocking on his door. She must have locked it after herself as she left.

Shuffling as much as his aching body would allow him, he made his way to the door and opened it.

Amy breathed a sigh of relief as she heard Stu's steps toward the door and then it opened. The sight of him, hand clenched on the doorknob and body sagged against the door, made her feel even worse that she'd forgotten to ask for a key to let herself back in earlier that morning.

"I'm so sorry, Stu. I should have grabbed your key or left it open, though I'm not sure how safe that would have been -"

Stu's pounding head barely comprehended her rambling apology, and he held up a hand to stop her words. "It's okay, Amy. Just - come in." Her hands were full with two grocery bags, and had he more strength, he'd offer to take them from her. Now, though, he was conserving his strength just to stand up straight.

As she cleared the threshold, he pushed the door shut and locked it again. He felt his head begin to swim again, so he took a deep breath and headed straight for his bed across the room. He wasn't even sure where Amy had gone, but he did hear some shuffling and banging in the kitchen, his refrigerator door opening and closing.

Amy quickly unpacked the myriad of groceries she'd picked up, refrigerating those that needed it and putting the rest in the cupboards. She knew she went a bit overboard in the "helping a friend" department, but she'd neglected to ask Stu what type of food he liked or what even felt like eating the next few days.

After the bags were empty, she walked back over to corner of the room where Stu lay on his bed, his head on the pillow and his arm thrown over his eyes. "Do you want to eat anything now?"

Stu shook his head, "Not now, no. The soup was enough. Able to keep some of it down."

"That's great," Amy said. "Do you need some fever reducer pills?"

"Don't even know if I have any."

"Well, what's your temperature?"

Stu shrugged, throwing his arm back down on the sheets. "Took it after you left this morning. Think it said 103."

"Let me go see if you have any pills," Amy said, walking into his bathroom. A search of his medicine cabinet produced a bottle, and she poured two into her palm. She also wet a washcloth with cold water and brought them both out to him. "Here, see if you can keep these down."

"Never was great swallowing pills," Stu said, forcing a smile.

"My mom always used to bribe me with candy when I was little," Amy laughed. "If you want -"

Stu shook his head, reaching for the water bottle. After emptying the bottle, he was able to get the pills down, and he prayed he wouldn't be seeing them again soon. "Don't think I can keep these down, much less a Hershey's bar."

"Maybe later," Amy said, folding up the washcloth in her hand. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she applied it to his forehead, pressing down to allow the coolness to seep into his skin. His eyes closed at this, and Amy smiled softly to herself.

"I've been able to start the work on the database today," she said, releasing the washcloth and sitting back.

"Mm-hmm."

"I had to ask for Auggie's help a couple of times, but he didn't seem to mind."

"Mm-hmm," Stu said, wondering if she planned on sitting there, chatting for the rest of the night. He couldn't lie to himself, he enjoyed her company, and let's face it, she was easy on the eyes, but why would a dynamic, beautiful woman want to spend her free time wiping the sweat off the forehead of a co-worker she'd just met a week ago?

Taking a deep breath, Stu opened his eyes. She still sat on the side of the bed, in her steel grey pantsuit, dark hair tumbling over her shoulders and bright green eyes smiling at him. Lifting himself onto his elbows so he was more on level with her, Stu said, "Amy, why are you doing this? It's not that I don't appreciate it, but –"

"I don't know," Amy said, her eyes dropping to his chest. "You're sick, and you've got no one to help you. I mean, I assumed you didn't 'cause Auggie said you lived alone, and –" Amy stopped short.

"Oh, you probably do have someone, don't you?" she asked, flustered. "I mean, of course you do. Why wouldn't a cute guy like you have someone? Do you want me to call her? She could come over and –"

"Amy, stop," Stu said. "I don't have a girlfriend."

"You don't?"

"No, I don't, so don't worry about having to call anyone," Stu said, sitting up further and reaching for the water on his table. "My parents live in Florida, I'm an only child, and aside from a few close friends in the area, I'm alone."

Amy nodded. She knew how that felt. At least he's got some friends, she thought. She'd been in the area only a couple of weeks, and aside from the people she'd met at work, she was close to no one.

"Amy," Stu asked quietly, watching a pensiveness and almost sadness cross her features. "What did you mean earlier about having to take care of your mom?"

"What?"

"You said you were used to taking care of sick people, 'cause you took care of your mom. Did something happen?"

Amy nodded, and then, as the memories began flooding back, began to talk, softly. "You probably think I'm fresh from graduation, huh?" she asked, turning towards him on the bed.

"Yeah, of course, most newbies are."

"I graduated a year and a half ago," Amy said, smiling a bit at the confused look on his face. "The CIA offered me this job right away, I guess they were recruiting or something. I accepted, 'cause they made the job sound so exciting, and I'd be working in my field, but –"

Stu's eyes held hers, and he nodded for her to continue.

"By then, my mom's health, which never good to begin with, not for years, took a turn for the worse. I'm the only family she had, you see? I had to go back home, back to Pennsylvania, and take care of her," Amy said, the words coming easier than she thought they would. "Don't get me wrong, I was happy to do it, but still."

Amy took a deep breath. She'd never told anyone the entire story of what happened after graduation, but getting it off her chest now seemed cleansing. "She hung on for as long as she could, but I think she was happy to go in the end. She passed away a few months ago."

Amy took a deep breath, willing the sadness away for just a while longer. "I reached back out to the CIA recruiter, explained my situation, and asked if they were still interested. They said yes, and well, the rest you know."

By the time she'd finished talking, Amy's voice was merely a whisper. She'd never told anyone. Her friends from college assumed she'd taken the job, and she let them assume. They were all on their way with their own careers and families, and her personal pain was just that, personal. Her mother knew of her passion and made her promise, at the end, to live her life and be happy.

As the memory of that final conversation filtered through her mind, Amy couldn't fight back the sob building in her chest. She tried taking a deep breath to quell it, but it refused, and her tears began to fall.

She clasped her hand over her mouth, a touch of anger at herself for losing control. She thought she'd gotten rid of the tears after the funeral, but it seemed there were still a lot more waiting to fall.

Her eyes were shut against the pain, so she hadn't even felt the hand that wrapped around her arm, nor had she realized she was being pulled until she opened her eyes to see Stu's chest a couple inches from her face.

She'd resisted, just for a moment, but his arms went around her back, and she let go, grasping at his t-shirt with her fingers. She heard him whispering, but couldn't make out the words above her own hitching breaths.

When the last sob was nothing more than a small hiccup, Amy blinked her eyes open and leaned back a bit. Her tears had soaked the shoulder of his t-shirt, and she wiped at it with a shaking hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to –"

"Don't," Stu said, reaching a hand up to wipe at her wet cheek. "I understand."

The strong feel of his arm around her shoulders, plus the fact that she was nearly sitting in his lap caused more than a blush to come to Amy's cheeks. Utter embarrassment washed over her, coupled with the closeness of Stu, in his bed, in his embrace.

Clearing her throat, she pulled out of his arms and stood up from the bed, trying to steady her still shaking shoulders. "I'll – I'll just get you another t-shirt," she said, walking over to his closet.

Stu watched her walk to his closet and begin to rifle through his clothes. Even in his state, he wanted to sweep her up in his arms and hold her until that look of sadness and despair disappeared completely from her eyes. He'd seen a glimpse of her vulnerability the day they met, and now he knew the reason for it. She was truly alone in the world and fighting like hell to make her mark on it.

"Here," Amy said, walking over to him and handing Stu the shirt. She saw a look of sympathy and concern in his eyes, and she smiled. "Is – is there anything else you want me to do?"

Stu slipped his soaked shirt over his head and pulled the fresh one on, laying down as he felt his energy sapping. "Not really, unless –"

"What is it?" Amy asked, a bit flustered at the brief glimpse of his bare chest.

"Would you –" Stu couldn't believe he was asking this, but he couldn't help himself. "If you don't have anywhere else to go, you could hang out here."

A bubble of happiness flared up in Amy's chest, and she found herself nodding. "I could heat you up some more of that soup, or maybe a sandwich? I know you might not be able to keep all of it down, but you should try, and –"

Stu couldn't fight the smile tilting his lips as she rambled. "Whatever you want."

Chapter 5: Chapter 5

Amy sat the container full of soup into the microwave and set it to heat. While it was humming along, she slipped out of her heels – only an inch high – and shrugged off her jacket. She'd gone shopping directly after work and didn't stop at her place to change. The slacks and blouse were comfortable enough to hang out for a few hours, she thought.

While she was waiting, she looked around Stu's apartment, taking in the simple, yet masculine décor. A true techie like her, Stu's two main areas seemed to be centered around a flatscreen tv and his computer, each occupying separate corners in the open apartment. His computer setup, though, impressed her. The black screen showed it was off, but she wondered if Stu would allow her to take a peak. Maybe if she waited until he fell asleep again, and she could –

Beep – Beep – Beep.

Amy turned around and removed the soup from the microwave, quickly pouring it into two bowls. She picked up Stu's bowl and a spoon and walked over to him. "Here."

"Thanks, again," Stu said, scooting up on the bed and stuffing a couple of pillows behind him. "Am I eating alone?" he asked, noting her empty hands.

"No, I didn't want to spill any," Amy said, walking back into the kitchen. She returned and plopped down on the opposite corner of the king-sized bed, crossing her legs under her. "Did you get any sleep today?"

Stu nodded and took a drink of the hot liquid. "Think I slept all day, in between running to the bathroom every hour. This is really good."

Amy shrugged, "It's just out of a can, but you're welcome."

Stu took a couple more sips. The light broth slipped down his throat easily and eased a bit of the nausea in his stomach and tightness in his chest. He leaned back into the pillows and looked over at Amy as she spooned the soup into her mouth. At that moment, he wished like hell he wasn't sick and contagious, as a drip escaped her lips and ran down her chin.

Her finger grabbed the drop, and Stu felt his heart rate speed up as she sucked it off her fingertip. Dragging his eyes away, Stu hastily emptied his bowl and set it on the nightstand beside him. He was in no shape to do anything about his growing attraction to his new co-worker now, and he doubted she'd want to have anything to do with him in the state he was in.

Amy tipped the bowl up to her mouth, draining the last of the soup. "You're right, it is pretty good, huh? You done, too?"

Amy unfolded her legs and stood up, walking around the bed to retrieve Stu's empty bowl. She noticed his eyes following her, and she met his gaze. Though the flu had made him pale, his eyes were still bright and – damn, she thought. How could a man have such beautiful eyes? Wide, soft brown, and able to look deep inside her with one look.

"I – I'll just wash these up," Amy said quietly, dragging her eyes away from his as she picked up his bowl. The spoon clanked a bit against the side from her suddenly shaking hands, and she steadied it with her other, hoping Stu hadn't seen the effect he had on her.

She'd made it to the kitchen and dropped the bowls into the sink, gripping the edge as she took a deep breath. I can't do this, she thought. He's sick, he probably doesn't even think of me the same way, and besides, there's probably a rule or two or a dozen against dating your co-workers.

She took her time washing and rinsing the bowls and the empty container, drying them completely before placing them in the cupboard. When she'd straightened and wiped everything in sight, she decided to suck it up and go back to Stu. She came here as a friend, to help him 'cause he was sick, not to cultivate a schoolgirl crush.

When she'd stepped around the corner, though, she saw he'd laid back down, and his eyes were shut. "Stu?"

He didn't answer, so she walked quietly around to the side of the bed. His breathing was normal and deep, and a small smile came to her lips as she realized he'd fallen back asleep. Grabbing the edge of the blanket, she lifted it across him. His eyes fluttered open, and Amy said, "Go back to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Sorry I'm not better company, just really tired," Stu whispered.

"I know," Amy whispered back, settling the blanket over his chest.

"Amy," Stu said, his hand staying hers on the blanket. "When I'm feeling better, I'd like to talk to you about something, okay?"

"What is it?"

Stu shook his head, "Later. Can't think clearly now."

"Okay," Amy said and watched as his eyes closed, and his hand slid away from hers.

Amy stared at her reflection in the restroom's utilitarian mirror, willing herself to pull it back together. She'd only been at work an hour, yet she'd only been productive a good five minutes of that. Every time she'd placed her fingers on the computer's keyboard, she kept hearing Stu's voice, "When I'm feeling better, I'd like to talk to you about something, okay?" She had a feeling, both joyous and frustrating, that he'd want to ask her out last night.

Why couldn't they have met in different circumstances, Amy thought, slapping her hand against the sink. What was she going to do once he was back in the office next week?

"Amy?"

"Director, hello," Amy said, whirling around to face the imposing blonde woman who entered the restroom.

"How's everything going?"

"All right," Amy said, clearing her throat and turning back to the sink.

"It doesn't sound all right," Joan said, walking up to the smaller, dark-haired woman and leaning against the counter beside her. "Is something on your mind?"

Amy looked at the tall woman's reflection in the mirror. Surely she'd be the one to ask about inter-office politics, but Amy wondered how to do so in a professional manner. "Actually, I do have a question about CIA policy, but I wasn't sure who the right person was to ask."

Joan nodded, "What do you need to know?"

Amy took a deep breath, then thought for a few seconds about how to phrase the question. "How – I mean, what's the policy on inter-office personal relationships?"

Joan's eyebrows shot up, and her mouth twisted as she tried to hide a smile. "Well, not the question I was expecting, but an important one, nonetheless. It's allowed."

"Really?" Amy said, her voice nearly squeaking.

"Yes, given the secretive and confidential nature of our work, it's easier to get closer to someone when you don't have to lie to them every minute of the day," Joan explained. "Matter of fact, I met my husband here."

"Your husband?" Amy asked.

"You've only been here a week, so I'm sure you haven't yet met the director of clandestine services," Joan explained. "My husband, Arthur Campbell."

"No, I haven't."

"Just keep it professional, and we shouldn't have a problem," Joan said with a smile, then walked across the room to one of the stalls.

Amy felt a bubble of laughter flare up in her chest, but she fought to keep it down, as she turned and left the restroom. Her feet nearly skipped down the hall and through the DPD doors and back into Tech Ops. She settled in behind Stu's desk and got back to work. It was Friday, and she couldn't wait for 5pm.

4:55pm

"Hey, Amy, care to join us at Happy Hour down at Allen's? It's kind of a tradition," Auggie said, shrugging his jacket over his shoulders.

Finishing up the final details of her work, Amy looked up at her smiling boss who stood in the doorway. "Happy Hour?"

"Yeah, half-price drinks, snacks, ridiculous games and camaraderie, the normal bar fare. What do you say, you up for it?"

"Umm, no, Auggie, I –" Amy searched her brain for an acceptable excuse. She'd planned on going home and then heading back over to Stu's for the weekend. "I – I already made plans."

"Plans?" Auggie asked, perplexed. "I know you're a hard worker, Amy, and I appreciate it, but you don't have to stay overtime to work on that project. It's scheduled for three months, not three weeks."

"No, no, nothing like that," Amy said hastily. "I'm – I'm meeting a friend."

Auggie hid a smile. Good thing Amy worked behind the scenes, he thought. She'd never make a good agent with the incapacity for lying. "Tell Stu we all hope he's feeling better."

"Stu?" Amy squeaked, before clearing her throat and taking a breath. "What makes you think I'm going to see Stu?"

Auggie shook his head, "Intuition. How is he doing?"

"Still in bad shape. And you're right, I'm going over there now to check up on him," Amy confessed. "Could – could you please not tell anyone? I know it's not against the rules, but still –"

"My lips are sealed," Auggie said with a wink, before leaving.

Amy slid the key she'd swiped from Stu's keyring into the door lock and eased the door open. Knocking lightly on the door as she stepped in, she said, "Stu?"

The room, once again, was cloaked in shadows as no lights were on. Amy walked over to Stu's computer table and flipped the desk lamp on. The light flooded the room, and she glanced around. His bed was empty, the sheets and blankets were rumpled, and the bathroom door was closed. A sliver of light shone from beneath the door.

Amy dropped her bag onto a chair and slipped her feet out of the sneakers she'd changed into at her apartment on her way to Stu's. She'd also swapped her office suit for more comfortable yoga pants and a sweatshirt.

"Stu, you in there?" she asked, knocking lightly on the door. Not hearing anything, Amy took another look around the apartment. He must be in the bathroom, she thought. Taking a grip of the handle, she eased the door open. "Stu?"

Looking around the small room cautiously, Amy didn't want to intrude on a private moment, but what if he passed out, or he fell? Her answer came when she saw him, sitting on the tile floor, his arms and head leaning against the bath tub.

"Stu, hey, wake up," Amy said, crouching down beside him and placing her hand on his arm. He was hot to the touch, and she automatically placed her hand on his forehead.

"Not sleeping," Stu grumbled, batting the hands away from him. "It's cool in here," he said, placing his cheek against the tub again.

"Did you take your temperature?"

"Amy, just – be quiet and leave me alone, okay? My head is pounding, and it takes too much effort to talk," Stu grumbled again.

Amy stood, looking down at the man whom she'd been daydreaming about all day. "Fine, then. Don't talk. But I'm not leaving you alone."

And with that, Amy left the moaning Stu huddled on the bathroom floor and headed back out into the apartment. It stung just a little when he'd pushed her away, but she knew from experience that it was just the fever talking. Her mother had, during her worst moments, threatened to call the police if Amy didn't leave her alone.

She quickly stripped the bed and laid down fresh, cool sheets. Next up was replenishing his water bottles, and laying out some more fever reducer pills. She'd make him take his temperature first, though. No use using the pills if his temp was too high or low.

When his bed was set up, she walked into the kitchen and saw that he'd at least attempted to eat something, as a loaf of bread and a pack of crackers lay on the counter. She grabbed the crackers and put them on the night stand beside the water.

The two sets of sheets and his clothes needed laundered, but they'd have to wait until she found a laundromat or if there were facilities in the building. She bundled the entire pile of clothing and sheets together and set them by the front door.

Walking past his computer, Amy took a step toward it and turned it on. She had a feeling she'd be here for a while, and she neglected to bring her own laptop. When the room was set up, she walked back over to the bathroom and knocked on the door.

"Stu?"

Amy opened the door, finding Stu in the same position she'd left him. "You have to get back in bed, Stu."

"Don't want to."

"Come on, I'll help you," Amy said, walking over to him, though she wasn't quite sure how she'd be able to lift him off the floor. She lifted his arm and pulled, thanking her stars that he didn't resist. Once he got on his feet, she walked him over to the sink and grabbed a clean washcloth. Soaking it in cold water, she lifted it to his face, wiping the heated skin.

His eyes had closed, and Amy let herself linger as she ran the washcloth along his jaw and his neck, settling it finally on the back of his neck. "Do you want to brush your teeth?"

Stu nodded, and opening his eyes, reached for the toothpaste and toothbrush. After a few minutes, he began to feel a bit better, and after rinsing his mouth out, finally looked up in the mirror to his reflection. His hair stuck out everywhere, and his skin was still a bit paler than normal.

His head still pounded, though, and he knew it was worse because of the lack of food he'd been able to keep down. The coolness of the porcelain tub had felt like heaven after he'd lost the contents of his stomach once again, and he seriously thought about staynig there for the next few days.

"Come on, back to bed," Amy said, opening the door and leading him through it.

Stu looked around his apartment and saw that she had, once again, changed the sheets on his bed and laid out water and crackers. He had to bite his tongue to stop a comment about her presumptiveness from passing his lips.

"I want you to take your temperature before you fall asleep, and take these pills," Amy said, pulling the blankets up over him.

"I'm not a complete invalid, Amy. I know what to do when I'm sick," Stu said harshly. Even the sound of his own voice made his head pound faster, and he grabbed the ear thermometer off the night stand. Yesterday and all day today, it had hovered around 103. After the telltale beep, he looked at the readout. 102.

"Seems to be coming down a bit, but I'll still take the pills, 'cause my head's about to explode," Stu said, grabbing the pills and washing them down with a bottle of the water. He noticed the crackers he'd left in the kitchen on the table, and he grabbed a couple of them. They'd helped a bit of the nausea, and he found if he ate them slowly, they were less likely to come back up at him.

He lay down on his pillows, chewing slowly. Noticing that Amy hadn't moved, he looked over at her. She stood there, looking at her hands in front of her, her fingers twisting together. Geez, he thought. What was he doing, snapping at her like that?

"Sorry, Amy. I know you're only trying to help."

"Want me to go, now that you're settled for the night?"

"You don't have to, but if you want –" Just then, Stu noticed the glow of his computer screen across the room. "Did you turn on my computer?"

"Oh, yeah, I left my laptop at my place, and I thought – that is, if you didn't mind, I could, you know –"

Stu fought a smile as she rambled on. Her pale, soft skin turned a soft pink anytime she got flustered, and he put up a hand to stop her. "Go ahead. I know you can't help yourself."

"Thanks," Amy said, a smile brightening up her features. She sat down in the chair and grabbed the mouse. "Oh, hey, I meant to tell you, Auggie said he hopes you're feeling better."

"Mm-hmm," Stu mumbled through the crackers.

"And he also knows I'm here."

"You told him you'd been coming over here?" Stu asked.

"He guessed. I'm – I'm not a very good liar, and when he invited me to join the gang for Happy Hour tonight, I couldn't think up a legitimate excuse," Amy explained with a light laugh.

"You gave up Happy Hour to come here?" Stu asked. "Why?"

Amy looked across the room at him. "Because you need me."

Chapter 6: Chapter 6

Stu stared at her profile as she turned back to his computer, the glow lighting up her face. His mouth dropped slightly open at her words, and the ambiguous meaning behind them. He needed her? A week ago, he didn't even know she existed. Now he was lying in his bed on the sheets she had laid out, in a t-shirt she had gotten for him out of his closet, eating crackers she provided from the kitchen. Hell, if she hadn't come over today, he'd probably still be curled up on the cold tile in the bathroom, trying to convince himself that he was comfortable.

Why wasn't he pushing her away, growing a backbone and telling her he'd been sick before and was capable of taking care of himself? He really had no answer for that, and he sighed, settling back against the pillows. His angle, though, still offered him a view of her, sitting in his office chair, smiling to herself as she read something.

Then, as her light laughter filled the room, Stu knew why he wasn't pushing her away. He never wanted to let her go. He groaned to himself as the thought invaded his brain. Damn. Why'd it have to happen now, when he was incapable of doing anything about these feelings for at least a few more days? Why'd it have to happen with someone so beautiful, too? He was sure she'd already caught the eye of somebody in the DPD. Didn't she say that Auggie was helping her in his stead?

A feeling somewhat close to jealousy rumbled in Stu's chest at the thought, and he cursed the stupid bug that invaded his body and laid him up. Auggie had a certain reputation in the building, and Stu had seen more than one new girl swoon under his heavy flirtation. But didn't she say that it was Auggie that had invited her out tonight, and she said no? She opted to come here, didn't she?

Stu's headache continued to get worse and pound heavier, and he slid down in his sheets, pulling the blanket up over him. He was way too tired to think clearly, and obviously too sick to do anything about his current situation. The first thing he needed to do was rest and get better, he thought.

Once he was on his feet again, he'd decide what to do about Amy, if there was anything at all that needed doing by that time.

A few hours later, Amy jerked awake, her head snapping back off the hand it was leaning against. Blinking against the harsh glare of the computer screen in the darkened room, she looked around and realized she was still in Stu's apartment. A quick glance at the computer clock, and she saw it was nearly 10pm, and Stu was softly snoring on his bed.

She had been reading a particularly intriguing tumblr site and got caught up in it when, she guessed, she dozed off. Leaning back in the office chair, she stretched her arms above her head and stifled a groan at the sore muscles that protested. The couch against the wall looked so inviting, and Amy wondered if Stu minded if she just lay down for a few hours and got some sleep before heading home.

It's not that she'd planned to stay over, but she was so tired, she wasn't even sure she'd make it the few miles to her apartment without dozing off behind the wheel. Yeah, he shouldn't mind, she thought. She could probably slip out in the morning, before he even woke up.

Stu woke to a dawn-lightened apartment, body still sore and protesting, stomach still queasy, and head still pounding, but he realized gratefully that he hadn't woken once since he'd fallen asleep to run to the toilet to throw up. He reached over for the thermometer and quickly took his temperature, wondering if the flu had finally given up its tight grip on his body.

101.3. Stu sighed. Still a bit high, but steadily coming down. He reached over for his pain pills, and he almost didn't take any, considering his temperature wasn't that bad anymore. But, he thought, his aching muscles still needed some relief, or else he'd never leave the bed.

He swallowed two pills and downed half a bottle of water. His sheets and t-shirt were rumpled and soaked with his sweat. He wondered if he'd be able to manage a short shower.

Standing up slowly, he peeled the t-shirt off and dropped it on the bed. He'd gather all of them when he was done and put them with the rest of the sheets Amy had removed the past couple of days.

As he shuffled over to the bathroom, he glanced up and saw his computer was now off. He wondered when she had left.

After a short, but much-needed shower, Stu dried himself off and wrapped the towel around his waist. Now that his stomach had quit dry-heaving, it was protesting in a different manner, loudly. He yearned for coffee and a bagel, or maybe eggs and bacon, but even the thought caused a phantom queasiness to flare up. Okay, he thought, tea and toast it was.

By the time he'd made it out of the bathroom and over to the kitchen area, the sun had risen more, and its glow through the blinds of his apartment chased the shadows away. It also cast a glow on a throw-covered, shapely form lying on his couch that, for a moment, bewildered Stu.

Then, as he saw the fall of dark hair over the side of the couch, Stu realized it was Amy. When did she fall asleep? Why didn't she go back to her own apartment? Was she planning on spending the entire weekend there?

As these questions raced around Stu's head, he took the mug he had in his hand and filled it with water, sticking it in the microwave to heat. He shut the door and reached into the cabinet for a tea bag.

The hard sound of the microwave door closing woke Amy. Looking around, bewildered, she instantly realized by the sunlight streaming through the blinds that her small nap on Stu's couch had turned into a full night's sleep, and it was morning already.

"Oh, no," she thought, throwing the cover off of her and sitting up hastily. Darting her gaze around the apartment, it fell on Stu's returning glare, as he stood in the kitchen. "Stu, I'm so sorry. I really didn't mean to fall asleep here. I mean, I did, but just for a couple of hours. I'd been so tired, and I was afraid to drive, in case I fell asleep at the wheel. I'll be gone in a few minutes. Just – just give me some time to –"

"Amy, stop," Stu said, cutting off her words. He grinned to himself as he realized he'd said that phrase at least a half a dozen times since he'd met her. "It's fine. You were tired. Just, at least have some coffee or something before you decide anything, okay?"

Amy nodded, averting her eyes away from his towel-clad body. She'd seen him without his shirt yesterday, but there was something fairly primal about him this morning. Perhaps it was the fact that he hadn't shaved in several days, and coupled with his tousled hair and near-naked body, the effect on her was nearly instantaneous.

Not trusting her babbling mouth to say anything else, lest she'd give voice to her inappropriate thoughts, Amy smiled softly and stood, walking past him to the bathroom.

Stu could have laughed with joy as he heard the door close behind her. Unless his flu-ridden mind was playing tricks on him, Amy just gave him the once-over and liked what she saw. Hmm, he thought, maybe he could give Auggie a run for his money.

By the time Amy let herself out of the bathroom, she saw that Stu had dressed and was leaning against the kitchen counter eating toast.

"Good morning."

Stu smiled at her, "Good morning. Coffee pot's over there if you want to make yourself some."

"You didn't have any?" Amy asked.

"Stomach said no," Stu said, raising his mug with the tea bag hanging from it.

"Oh, actually, tea sounds great," Amy said, grabbing a mug of her own.

"Sorry I don't have any raspberries for you," Stu said.

"Why would I want raspberries in hot tea?"

"You said it was your drink, didn't you? Some kind of raspberry tea thing?"

Amy rolled her eyes at him as she set the mugful of water in the microwave. "It's diet raspberry lemonade."

"Oh, okay," Stu said with a laugh.

"I take it you're feeling better?"

"Somewhat, fever's 101, headache and muscle stiffness, but thankfully, I think I've gotten beyond praying to the procelain god. Actually slept through the night."

One hour later…

"Amy, I am more than capable of doing my own laundry," Stu said, reaching out to grab the bundle of sheets Amy had lifted off the floor.

"You're still not 100%, and the last set of clean sheets are on your bed now," Amy protested, pulling at the bag. He refused to let go, though.

"I'll take them down to the laundry room tomorrow. I'm sure I can sleep on these sheets until then," Stu said, tugging the bag. She stood her ground, though.

"And what if you're not feeling better tomorrow?" Amy asked, cocking her head to the side. "You plan on lugging a heavy load of laundry up a couple flights of stairs when you can't even walk across the room now?"

Stu's jaw was set, and he was reminded of their standoff in the tech center when they'd first met. "Why are you so stubborn?"

"Why are you so hardheaded?" Amy shot back.

"Fine," Stu said harshly, releasing his grip on the bag. Amy stumbled a couple of steps back, but soon regained her balance again.

"I'll be back in a few minutes," she said, turning around, and with a grunt, swung the bundle of laundry over her shoulder and left the apartment.

Amy opened the refrigerator and pulled out the package of turkey slices and lettuce. She'd brought them over Thursday, but she saw that Stu hadn't touched them yet.

"Stu, have you eaten anything in the past three days?" she asked of the man who was now laid out on the couch, arm thrown over his eyes.

"Soup you made, crackers you gave me, and toast this morning," Stu grunted.

Amy shook her head at this. No wonder he's a grump, she thought. He said he'd stop throwing up, so it was time now for some honest-to-goodness food. "You up for a turkey sandwich?"

"Sure," Stu said. What was he going to do, he thought. If he attempted to stop her, it'd only result in a standoff like they had with the laundry. He'd finally given in to her, if only because she was right. His strength wasn't yet back to normal, and he was swiftly running out of clean clothing and sheets.

And, if he were being honest with himself, he really didn't want her to leave yet. The feeling was unexpected, and he wasn't quite sure what to do with it. He hadn't had someone significant in his life since college, and since coming to work for the DPD, he'd only dated a few were mostly women he'd met at the bar, and in one case, a date set up for him by Auggie and Annie, who were convinced they'd found the perfect woman for him.

Since that disastrous evening, he'd put a stop to his co-workers matchmaking efforts, telling them he was more interested in putting his energy into his work. It was more or less the truth, but now as he heard Amy puttering around in his kitchen, he wondered if he should rethink his decision.

"Okay, sit up and try to eat as much of this as you can," he heard Amy say. Sitting up gingerly, Stu took the plate from her hands. He noted that she'd made one for herself, and he scooted over on the couch to make room for her to sit.

"I didn't have this in my fridge. Did you –"

"Yeah, I brought it the other day. Just some turkey and lettuce with honey mustard. You should be able to keep it down."

"Thanks," Stu said quietly, smiling at her. She returned it with one of her own, and they dug in.

"You're heading home, then?" Stu asked, watching from the couch as Amy slid her shoes back on her feet. After lunch, they'd watched tv for a couple of hours, settling on a favorite movie of hers.

"Yeah, I have to, gotta do laundry. I usually do it Saturday morning, but –"

"But you were too busy doing mine?" Stu said with a laugh.

"I was too busy helping a friend who needed me," Amy corrected, but couldn't help the smile from tilting her lips. "Guess you're gonna watch the Super Bowl tomorrow, huh?"

Stu shrugged, "Had no plans for it. Not a big football fan. Waiting for baseball season to start up. That's my sport."

"Really?" Amy asked. "Mine, too. Who's your team?"

"Washington Nationals, of course. What other team is there?"

"No comment," Amy said, standing up from the couch.

Stu followed her. "No comment? What kind of answer is that?" he asked, walking with her to the front door.

"The kind that gets me out of this apartment without having another argument with you," Amy said, stepping back as Stu opened the door for her. "I'd like to get home before the sun goes down."

Stu chuckled and hung his head down a bit. "Guess you're right. Thanks, Amy, for everything," he said, placing his hand on her shoulder. She turned a bit to him at the movement, and he found himself again lost in her green eyes as she looked up to him. He saw now that they weren't completely green, but had flecks of blue and gray.

Amy felt the warmth of his hand through her shirt, and as she turned towards it, lifted her head to him, getting lost herself in his gaze. "You're welcome," she said quietly. Then, before she lost her nerve, Amy leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his waist, placing her head on his shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Stu quickly recovered from the shock of her embrace, wrapping his own arms around her shoulders and dropping his head to hers as it lay on his shoulder. He knew from their working together that she never wore perfume, but he detected a bit of a flowery scent in her hair, and he inhaled deeply. At her words, though, he found himself nodding, "Yeah, we can have a non-Super Bowl get together."

Amy hid her joy at the thought of spending another day with him by giving his torso another squeeze before letting go. "And, if you promise not to make fun of me, I'll even tell you who my favorite baseball team is."

"I would never make fun of you, Amy."

Amy raised her eyebrows at Stu and cocked her head to the side. "Uh-huh, whatever you say. Bye, Stu."

"Bye," Stu said, closing the door as she disapppeared down the hallway to the staircase.

Chapter 7: Chapter 7

Shrugging her coat off as she walked down the hallway to Stu's apartment, Amy folded it over her arm and adjusted her messenger bag slung across her shoulder. Stu had asked her yesterday which team she rooted for in the MLB, but given his preference for the Nationals, Amy knew her answer of the Phillies would have started another argument. So this morning, she dug her old jersey out of storage and put it on. Amy knocked on his apartment door. It was noon already, and she looked forward to spending the afternoon with him.

The door swung open, and Amy smiled wider as she saw Stu standing there, looking much better than when she'd left him yesterday. Instead of the tee and shorts he'd practically lived in for three days, he had on a sweatshirt and pair of jeans. Lifting her eyes to his face, Amy saw, though, that he still looked a little pale, and his eyes were wide and looking her up and down.

"Hey," Amy said, walking in and hanging her coat on the coat rack in the corner. "I figured I'd let my baseball love speak for itself," she said laughing, turning around to him.

Stu slowly shut the door, his gaze hooded as he looked at her, not talking. Amy's smile faded as she took in his quiet demeanor. "You're not feeling better, are you?" she asked, walking up and placing her hand on his forehead. "Actually, you're not hot at all."

"Yeah, Amy, look," Stu said, reaching up and grasping her hand off his forehead. Turning it over, he placed both his hands over it.

"You still look pretty bad, though," Amy said, pulling on his hands with her clasped one. "You should be lying down."

Frowning as Stu resisted her, Amy said, "Stu, come on."

"Amy, I – I don't think I can be friends with you."

"What?" Amy asked, her voice squeaking a bit as his words hung in the air. He didn't say anything else, though, just kept his eyes on her hand that he held between his own. "Why? It's 'cause you think I'm stubborn, isn't it? I'm not, really. I was just trying to help you, and I thought – well, I got the feeling you liked me, and because I liked you, too, I thought we could perhaps have something. Not now, I mean, we haven't even known each other all that long, but later –"

"Amy, shh," Stu said, tugging on her hand a bit to stop her rambling.

Amy stopped talking and lifted her eyes to his, blinking a bit to clear her vision. When his face came into focus, she saw his eyes looking into hers, and the corners of his mouth tilted a bit.

"As I was saying, I don't think I can be friends with a Phillies fan. There's only so much I'm willing to concede," Stu said, trying and failing to stop from smiling.

"Wha- what? You – I mean –" Amy stammered.

"Though I did appreciate that little speech," Stu said. He more than appreciated it, but the way she was looking at him now, her mouth dropped open, and her hand limp in both of his, he wasn't sure if she planned on laughing at his joke or stomping off. "So, you like me, huh?"

The shock wore off at his words, and Amy shut her mouth again, the full brunt of what she'd said coming back at her. She felt her cheeks coloring at the embarrassment, and she looked down at her hand still sandwiched between his strong, warm ones. She tugged a little, but he didn't release her.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I like you, too," Stu said quietly, studying her face. "Despite the fact that your team's mascot looks like he swallowed a trumpet."

Amy giggled in spite of herself, and raising her eyes back up to his, she saw the same concern, sympathy and laughter she'd come to – well, like about him. She wasn't lying, to herself or to him, when she said those words. So, swallowing her embarrassment, Amy curled her fingers into his clasped hands and smiled, "Well, at least my team doesn't have to resort to dressing people up like dead presidents and make them run the bases."

Stu laughed aloud at her words, and letting go of her hand, wrapped an arm around her shoulders in a light hug. "Okay, okay, I give. No more trash talking for now. I was hoping you'd show up, though. What are you going to make me for lunch?"

"Since you're feeling better, you should be able to make it yourself," Amy said, walking behind him across the apartment to the refrigerator.

"Who said I'm feeling better?" Stu said, leaning against the island counter.

"Ugh, you're impossible," Amy sighed. "Fine, I'll make lunch. I think I got some pasta the other day, didn't I?"

Watching as she pulled out a bag of noodles from the cabinet, Stu said, "About that, how much do I owe you?"

"$500," Amy said, filling a pot full of water and sitting it on the stove. Turning, she leaned against the counter across from him.

"What?" Stu asked, half hoping she was joking. "Did you go shopping in California or something?"

"Price of the food, plus the going rate for a visiting nurse," Amy said, shrugging her shoulders.

"I have to pay you for coming over? I couldn't have stopped you if I tried, and you know it," Stu said. "You are kind of pushy."

Amy tilted her head to the side, taking in Stu's teasing remark and smirking face. This was a side to him she hadn't seen yet, a fun and flirty side. She'd seen the almost uptight, highly capable version of him at work, and the weak, hurting side of him the past few days. But this – this side of him intrigued her.

"So I've been told," she said. Then, with an answering smirk, she continued, "Okay, you can just pay me back for the groceries. I've got the receipt in my bag. We'll have to figure out some other type of payment for the hours of nursing."

"Oh, I – umm –"

Amy giggled and leaned further across the counter, "What's the matter, Stu? Able to dish it out, but not take it?"

The stunned silence Stu fell into at her previous comment froze him for a few seconds as he made sure his ears weren't deceiving him, or his fever hadn't returned, and he was hallucinating. She was flirting with him. He'd heard right. All in the space of about five minutes, she admitted she was attracted to him, and she flirted with him.

Mentally high-fiving himself, Stu clapped his gaping mouth shut and allowed the happiness he was feeling shine through his eyes. "Just making sure I heard you right, is all. So, what do you think is an appropriate payment for three days of TLC?"

As he spoke, Stu leaned further toward her 'til only a few inches separated them, and he swore he could make out every dark lash that ringed her emerald eyes. Those eyes that now opened wide at their nearness.

Amy felt a tingle spread through her chest at his nearness, and as her eyes dropped from his penetrating gaze down to his lips – full and dusky pink – she could only think of one thing that would suffice as payment for her undivided attention over the past few days. "I do have an idea, but we might have to wait a while."

"Why's that?" Stu asked, hesitantly.

"'Cause you're still contagious, aren't you?" Amy whispered, fluttering her eyes back up to his.

"I'm not sure. Think we should find out? I'd take care of you if you got sick," Stu whispered back, cognizant of nothing else at that moment but her nearness and the lock of hair that had escaped its hold from the elastic band holding it back to drift across her cheek.

"Well, I did get a flu shot a couple of months ago. I always make sure I get one every year, you know, ever since Mom got sick. I wanted to stay as healthy as I could, 'cause I know how difficult it is for –"

"Amy, stop," Stu whispered, before reaching out a finger to tilt her chin up. When she'd ceased talking, he took advantage of her slightly parted lips to touch them with his own.

Sweet and gentle. Those two words flared and sung through Amy's brain as Stu's lips met hers. So very different than what she expected, what she'd received in the past from the few boyfriends she'd had in her life. In this one touch, she felt cared for and adored.

Stu felt her soft sigh as he touched his lips against hers. He was almost hesitant to do so, afraid she'd withdraw back into herself, or haul back and slap him for being so forward. But she did neither of those things. Instead, he felt her lips move slightly under his, turning his gentle caress into a give-and-take of sweet kisses. Though his body was still a bit weak, and he doubted he could do it, he felt a primal urge to climb over the counter and sweep her into his arms.

He didn't, though, and if he were being truthful to himself, he didn't want to. Amy was way too sweet and trusting and fragile to even consider bedding so wantonly and haphazardly. A deeper, more insistent urge was overtaking him, one that called for him to treat her like porcelain, to take care of her and make sure those beautiful eyes of hers never felt sadness or pain again.

A few moments later, Stu pulled back and smiled as she leaned towards him. He waited until her eyes met his again before he whispered, "Amy?"

"Yeah?"

"I think your water is boiling now."

At first, his words confused her, but as the rest of her senses came back to life, she became aware of a bubbling sound. "Oh!" she exclaimed, turning suddenly back to the stove. The water was fairly dancing in the pot, and she quickly added a dash of salt before pouring the contents of the bag into it and giving it a quick stir.

"Think your stomach can handle buttered noodles?" she asked, turning back to Stu. He still leaned against the counter, the lips she just moments before savored smiling at her.

"I think I can handle anything you've got to offer, Amy."

An hour later, Stu finished washing the dishes and joined Amy on the couch, where she sat cross-legged, her laptop open on her legs.

"You brought your laptop with you, I see."

Amy smiled up at him, "Yep."

"Do you mind if I have a look at it?"

Amy elbowed his reaching arm out of the way, "Uh-uh, you got your own."

"Come on," Stu said, adding a pout in for added good effect. "I just wanted to see what kind it is."

Amy took in his batting puppy-dog eyes and groaned, "And you talk about me needing to touch everything. Fine."

Stu only half-listened as she extolled on the features of her Macbook. With the other half of his brain, he held himself back from jumping around the room, ecstatic that he'd met a girl that was beautiful and brainy and, in her words, liked him back. He knew it'd be much safer, health-wise, that they wait a few more days until he touched her again, but he felt a surge of happiness at the fact that he'd been able to kiss her at least once.

"So, what do you think?" Amy asked.

"Impressive, but kind of pricey for a recent college grad, I'd think."

Amy settled back into the couch, placing the laptop back onto her thighs. "Yeah, well, when my mom died, I was her only living relative, and with what she left me, I was able to pay off my college bills and set myself up here. She made me promise to fulfill my dreams, just before – well, you know."

"Sorry to bring it up," Stu said quietly.

"No, it's fine," Amy said, smiling over at him. "I don't know what came over me the other day, when I fell apart on you like that."

"You just lost your mom. I know it's been a while, but if you ever want to talk, I'm here."

"Thanks," Amy said, reaching over and caressing his cheek. "Some days, you know, the memories are a bit stronger than others."

"I'm sure you've got some good memories mixed up in there."

"Yeah, I do," Amy said with a laugh. Releasing his cheek, she lifted her laptop up. "I love computers, as you I think have guessed. I was 10 when I first fell in love with them."

"10, huh?"

"Yeah, my mom had one, and I couldn't believe that all that stuff on the screen was coming from that little box. So, I took it apart."

"You dissected your first computer when you were 10?" Stu asked, incredulously.

"Yep, and when I first saw that motherboard – I didn't know that's what it was called at the time – I thought it was pretty, all silver and green. And then –"

"What?" Stu asked, turning toward her. "What happened?"

"My mom caught me," Amy confessed. "This was 15 years ago, remember. Computers were big and bulky and expensive. I think I was grounded for a whole year after that."

Stu burst out laughing, and Amy joined in his laughter, 'til she felt tears touching her eyes.

"So now I know what to do when you try the same thing at work," Stu teased once their laughter died down. "Though I'm not sure how I could explain to Auggie why his trainee is sitting in the corner."

Amy burst out laughing again at the image, all sad memories of her recent loss and lonely life left behind.

Chapter 8: Chapter 8

"Stu?"

"Hmm?"

Amy looked over from the laptop on her legs to the drowsy man who'd laid down on the couch beside her, his head a few inches from her leg. While her right hand navigated the computer, her left had drifted down to him. After eating lunch and talking for a bit after, Stu had laid down beside her, citing exhaustion. He'd grabbed the remote and was idly flipping through channels.

An easy silence had fallen between them, and Amy half-consciously let her left hand stroke his hair. When at work, he wore it gelled and brushed back, but he hadn't left the house for several days now, and the strands were clean and soft.

"You asleep?"

"Kinda," Stu mumbled. "If you keep petting me like that, I don't think I'll ever want to leave the couch."

Amy giggled lightly, but didn't stop her ministrations. "You remember Thursday night, when I first came over?"

"Mm-hmm."

"You said when you were feeling better, you wanted to talk to me about something."

"Did I?"

"Yes, you did," Amy said, looking down at his peaceful face next to her. His eyes were now closed, and she swore he was leaning into her hand as her fingers traced along his hairline.

"Okay."

"What did you want to talk about, Stu?"

"Mm, not sure. I remember eating soup."

"Yes, we were eating soup," Amy prompted. She watched as he stretched out a bit more. His eyes were still shut, and Amy knew he'd be asleep soon.

"That's right," Stu mumbled, his words becoming slower. Amy leaned down to catch all of what he was saying. "Mmm, you were eating with me, and it dripped down your chin. Then you caught it with your finger and licked it off. Wanted to kiss you then, but was too tired."

Amy's hand began to shake slightly at his words, which were now coming out in a whisper. She remembered that moment, as well, and how he'd been watching her so intently, she'd flushed all over and had to excuse herself.

"I remember," Stu continued, shifting slightly again, further down into the cushions. "Wanted to talk to you about going out with me when I felt better, but –"

His words slid off as sleep overtook him, and Amy fought the urge to shake him by the shoulders and make him continue. "But" what? She thought. What had stopped him from asking her? Ever since that day, she'd been wondering what he'd wanted to talk to her about and had been on pins and needles about it since. Especially after getting the go-ahead from Joan about the CIA policy on dating your co-workers.

Now that she had her answer, though, it was somewhat anticlimatic. He did want to ask her out. He'd felt the same pull she did at that moment. But now, after he'd admitted it, he'd fallen asleep again, and Amy sighed, slightly disappointed.

Closing her laptop, she contemplated curling her legs under her and dozing off, as well. But as much as she'd wanted to sleep next to him, the couch was not all that an inviting place to sleep, given that Stu took up the majority of it. And if he planned on recovering entirely, he needed to sleep and allow his body to become healthy again.

Standing as quietly as she could without disturbing him, Amy grabbed the blanket that was folded on the back of the couch and tucked it around his body. She'd liked for him to move to his bed, but she knew after her inadvertent sleepover a couple of nights before, the couch was comfortable enough to sleep on.

As she laid the blanket over his shoulder, she let her fingers ghost over his temple, brushing a lock of hair on its way. She leaned down and pressed a small kiss there, as well, whispering, "Sleep well. I'll see you tomorrow."

A deep-seated sense of well-being greeted Stu as he woke. After four straight days of waking to either his stomach clenching, or his head pounding, or his head swimming from his fever, waking to none of those things brought a relieved smile to his face. He still felt a bit weak, but he no longer felt out of control.

Stretching his body, he opened his eyes to see that he'd fallen asleep on the couch. The throw he'd kept on the back slid off his body, and he smiled as he realized Amy must have tucked it around him after he fell asleep.

Amy. As he was stretching his arms over his head, they didn't fall against a small female body, and he looked up to see that she was no longer beside him. Looking around, he saw that she wasn't sitting at his computer desk, either, or standing in his kitchen.

"Amy?"

No answer came back to him, and he stood up, calling out her name once again as he checked the other corners of his apartment. His bed was unslept in, and the door to his bathroom was open, the interior empty.

She'd left. Disappointment washed over him, but it was soon replaced with chagrin. Did he really expect her to stay? She had her own life, and and though he enjoyed her company, and believed she enjoyed his, as well, she couldn't be expected to stay and watch him sleep for hours.

Hours, he thought. How long had he been asleep? The glow of the tv was the only light source in the large, airy room, and from the darkness behind the blinds, he surmised it was nighttime. Glancing around to his bedside alarm clock, its blue glow showed the time as 5:17. He squinted at it, not really believing it at first. But the darkness outside and early morning news on his tv soon made him believe that he'd been asleep for nearly 12 hours.

It was Monday now, though, and given how well he felt, he figured it was high time he got back to work. Besides, he thought with a smile as he walked into the bathroom, Amy would be there, and if his memory served him correctly, they were in the middle of an interesting conversation when he'd fallen asleep yesterday.

Amy walked quickly from Auggie's office down to the tech center. She'd gotten there a bit earlier than normal, but was surprised to see her boss already behind his desk. When she asked him about it, he'd said he preferred the quiet mornings before the department swung into high gear.

Amy had to admit that he was right, and the normal hustle and bustle of the department was quite different at this time of day. She was about to tell him so when he continued speaking, saying he wasn't the only one who'd come in early and pointed to a desk across the room.

The monitor on Stu's desk – which she'd worked at last week while he was home – was on and a styrofoam Starbucks cup sat beside the keyboard. "Stu's here?" she'd asked, turning back to her boss, worry and concern etched in her face and evident in her voice.

"Well, not here in this room. He's in the tech center, apparently checking up on your progress. I tried to tell him that I've been monitoring your work, but he –"

Amy didn't stick around to hear more, and maybe, she thought, as she walked down the hall, it was rude to walk out on her boss, but she just couldn't believe that Stu would come into work today. He'd fallen asleep in the middle of the afternoon yesterday and still had a fever the day before.

Quickly opening the heavy tech center door, she stepped inside, looking around. She saw him sitting at the desk in the corner, working at the mainframe's computer. "Stu, what are you doing here?"

He'd heard the door open, but seeing how early it was – a full hour before most of the other staff arrived – Stu surmised it was Auggie coming in, but at the sound of her voice, he turned and smiled. "Amy, hey."

Standing up, he walked over to her, but stopped a few feet away once he saw the upset look on her face. That, and the way her arms were crossed over her chest, both shouted "stay away" to him, and so he did. "You okay?"

"Me? You're asking me if I'm okay? I'm not the one who's been throwing up for four days with a 103-degree temperature."

"Well, yes, I had been throwing up and I had a high temperature, but due to some excellent nursing, I've rebounded quickly, as you can see," Stu said cautiously, wondering where her hostility was coming from. Her attitude was a far cry from less than 24 hours ago, when they'd been flirting and, he remembered with a smile, kissing across his kitchen countertop.

"You still need to rest, though," Amy said. "And you shouldn't be sitting in here, in the air conditioning, either. You could relapse, you know, and get sicker. I mean, did you take your temperature this morning? Even if it's a little high, you wouldn't be able to tell in here, with the artificial climate. You need to build up your strength, and –"

As she kept talking, Stu's apprehension as to her hostile mood slid away. She wasn't mad at him. No, he thought, as she continued to list all the reasons for him staying at home today, she was worried for him, concerned about him. His heart leapt a little at the realization, and he quickly crossed the room to her.

Yesterday, he'd quieted her rambling by kissing her, but given the fact they were at work he knew that wouldn't be appropriate. So he did the next best thing and walked right up to her and enveloped her small frame into his, wrapping his arms around her. She'd been wearing flats, so her face came into his chest. Her arms were still crossed in front of her, so the embrace was rather awkward, but it seemed to work as her words stopped.

She stayed in the same position for a few seconds, and Stu was afraid he'd pushed his luck too far. However, he soon felt her body relax and relent, and her arms extricated themselves between them and fell onto his waist.

He heard her mumble something, but her face was pressed into his suit lapel, and he leaned back a couple of inches. "What?"

"Not fair."

Stu chuckled a bit, but didn't let go of her. He rested his chin against her temple and said, "What's not fair?"

"You can't keep just grabbing me to get me to stop talking."

"Don't know about that," Stu laughed softly. "Seems to do the job, and the benefits are nice."

Amy giggled in spite of herself, and with a playful slap to his arm, she said, "Yeah, but I'm still worried, though. Are you sure you're okay to be here?"

Stu stepped back and brought his hands to her face, lifting it up so she could see him. "I'm sure, but thank you for worrying about me. It's been a while since I've had someone do that."

"No fever?"

"None, and yes, I did take my temperature this morning. I slept all night on the couch and woke up this morning feeling almost 100%."

Amy nodded, "Okay, if you say so. But if you get the chills or get dizzy or something –"

"I'll be sure to go home. Deal?"

"Deal," Amy said with a smile. "So, you're feeling better, huh?"

"Yep," Stu said, dropping his hands from her face.

Amy watched as he walked back to the computer he had been sitting at and followed him, leaning against the chair's back once he'd sat back down. "Good. Maybe now you can tell me what you were going to tell me Thursday night and yesterday afternoon."

"I was going to tell you something?" Stu asked innocently, hiding his smile as he pretended to concentrate on the data flowing across the monitor.

"Yep, and I believe, right before you fell asleep yesterday, you said something about wanting to ask me out?"

"Ohh, that."

Amy rolled her eyes and fought the urge to throttle him. "Yes, that. So, are you going to?"

"You know, begging someone to ask you out isn't exactly the protocol for a date invitation."

"What's protocol got to do with it?" Amy asked, walking around him to lean against the desk, close enough to him that he could not ignore her presence. "Are you going to ask me out, or what?"

Stu leaned back in his chair, now that she effectively blocked out half of the monitor with her body. "Probably."

"Probably? What kind of answer is that?" Amy huffed, crossing her arms in front of her once again.

"Well, Amy, think about it. What good would a date do now? You've already seen me half-naked, you've cried in my arms, poured your heart out to me about your mom, slept over at my place, cooked me dinner, and oh, yeah, we've already had a mind-blowing first kiss," Stu said, counting out each item with his fingers. "We've pretty much gone about this entirely backwards, so having a date right now is kind of a moot point."

Smirking at his playful teasing of her, Stu waited for her response, but she still stood there, her arms crossed, and her eyes fixed on him. "Amy?"

"That kiss was pretty mind-blowing, wasn't it?" she whispered.

Stu blinked at her words and saw that her eyes had drifted from his down a few inches. The same primal urge he'd had the day before to sweep her up in his arms resurfaced, and though he had the strength today he hadn't then to do so, they were at work, and he didn't want to risk either of their jobs if they were found making out in the tech center.

"Yeah, it was," he agreed quietly. "Amy, I do want to go out with you, no joking, and it's not because of gratitude for taking care of me this weekend. I do like you, I wasn't kidding about that, and if you wouldn't mind too much, I would like to start seeing you on a regular basis."

"See, now, was that so hard?" Amy said with a wide smile. "Okay, so we'll start today. We'll have lunch together, and not in that stuffy food court. We'll go somewhere outside the building. I'll leave the choice up to you, okay?"

Stu's mouth gaped open and stayed there through her speech, which ended with her bending down and placing a quick kiss against his temple. Before he could respond, though, or reach out for her, she had walked away and left the tech center.

Turning back to the computer, Stu shook his head. Damn, he thought, guess I've got myself a girlfriend.

Chapter 9: Part 2 chapter 1

Stu and the Tech Trainee: Part 2

A/N Part 2 written in alternating Stu/Amy 1st person POVs with occasional 3rd person for Annie/Auggie scenes.

Stu and I'd been seeing each other for a week now. Of course, the phrase "seeing each other" appeared to be something of a misnomer. After having lunch with Annie and Auggie on Monday, we'd only seen each other outside of work once more.

He'd approached me today, as we were preparing to leave, and said that everyone was meeting later at Allen's Tavern for happy hour and would I like to come? I'd readily agreed, and secretly jumped for joy when he smiled and said he'd pick me up in an hour. And that's where we were now.

It seemed as if half of the DPD was there – or at least everyone who was single. I was soon thinking that Mr. Allen should charge the US Government for its dating services. As the night wore on, way past the so-called "happy hour," I watched as my co-workers got louder, slightly bawdier, and more than a handful slunk off arm-in-arm.

As for Stu, he'd picked me up at my apartment, drove us there, and led me to a table already occupied by Auggie and Annie and a few other support techs whose names I hadn't remembered from my first day at work. He'd sat me down beside him and ordered me a drink – which he paid for. Though I tried to pull out my own money, he insisted, saying I'd taken care of him for so long, he had a lot to make up for. Aside from sitting close to me and laying his arm along the back of my chair, he didn't do anything else.

I was beginning to think what'd happened in his apartment the previous weekend had only been a coincidence, and I'd imagined his affection. I know, though, that I hadn't imagined him kissing me, or when he said he liked me.

And now, it was approaching midnight, and those around us had started saying their good-byes and walking out the exit. Some in groups courtesy of a designated driver or two, and those who had come alone in waiting cabs. Annie, who'd switched to bottled water after her first bottle of beer, took a happily buzzing Auggie by the elbow, telling him it was time for them to go.

"But Annie, the night is still young," Auggie said, stumbling a bit against her. I'd wondered at their relationship since I started working at the DPD, even asking Stu about it at one point. He just shook his head and said he didn't really listen to office gossip too much.

Annie wrapped her arm around Auggie's waist to keep him upright and dug in her purse with the other, dropping a few bills on the table. "You two stay, enjoy another round me," she said, throwing me a wink and a smile.

I colored a bit, but hid it behind a returning smile and picked the bills off the table. Turning to Stu, I saw he was leaning heavily on the table nursing a beer, staring at the label as if it held the secrets of the world. "Stu?"

"Huh?"

"Do you want another one? Annie's buying us another round," I said, waving the bills at him.

"Yeah, sure," Stu said thankfully with a smile. I'd nearly come to the conclusion that he didn't enjoy my company as much as I'd hoped or wanted, but with that one look and smile, I breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'll be right back."

As I watched her leave the table, I took another long draw from my bottle, emptying its contents. I'd hoped a few drinks would have eased my nerves and loosened a bit of the tension I'd felt all week. After proclaiming our mutual "like" for each other in the tech center when I'd come back to work Monday, things had cooled off between us, and I couldn't figure out why.

We'd continued working on the database all week, but aside from warm smiles and sidelong glances, she hadn't shown much more interest. Suffice to say, I was confused. And given how much of my brain and attention was needed for work, not much was left over to decipher and decode female motivation.

This afternoon, Auggie had mentioned to me in passing that the group had planned on hitting Allen's, and I saw my opportunity to invite Amy along. Her eyes had lit up when I'd mentioned it, and I nearly melted – again. Her effect on me hadn't waned in the two weeks I'd known her, and I'd hoped the time away from the office would give us an opportunity to finally enjoy some time together.

Unfortunately, I hadn't thought about the fact that our first "date" would include half of the office. Though some of my co-workers felt no compunction to hide their affairs and hook-ups, I wasn't one of them. I'd kept Amy near me to save her from some of the more affectionate of the staff – including super-agent Conrad, who I'd seen winking and smiling at her at Starbucks the other day.

Thankfully, she hadn't minded me sliding my chair nearer hers at the table, nor when I'd leaned over and placed a proprietary arm along the back of her chair. And she seemed to truly be enjoying herself, which surprised me, given the sometimes rambunctious nature of our crowd outside the office. Beyond what we'd shared last weekend, I didn't really know much about Amy Elizabeth Baker.

One thing I did know, though, was how she made me feel. There's not really much a tech geek can show off and boast about to garner a girl's interest, but Amy, since I'd first met her, seemed in awe of what I did. While I was instructing her at work, she hung on my every word and just seemed to "get it." That, and the way she'd look at me with those green eyes sometimes when I'd catch her staring at me made me swell with so much masculine pride, I felt on equal standing with Conrad, Jai, and all the other agents.

I never wanted to let that feeling go, wanted to keep her near me. How to do that without seeming like a heartsick puppy, though. This was all new to me, and I didn't want to screw it up too badly.

Picking the two shot glasses off the bar, I threaded my way through the thinning crowd. I took a couple of deep breaths to hopefully soothe my racing heartbeat. While at the bar, I was ready to just get a couple more bottles for us when a wild and sudden thought hit me. I'd never thought of Stu as shy, but outside of work and last weekend, he'd barely talked to me.

He was still interested, I could tell, but maybe a little one-on-one time, coupled with a couple shots, would relax him. It wasn't the classiest of ideas I've ever had, and maybe it wasn't very fair to Stu, but ever since Monday, there hadn't been much else in the happening in the romance department.

I'd gotten to the table and carefully set the glasses on the table. The look on his face was one of surprise and confusion. Well, it'd do for a start. Picking up his shot glass of Absolut citrus, I sat it in front of him, taking the other for myself.

"Amy?"

"Yeah?" I answered, trying not to smile.

"I've already – well, we've already had a few beers. What's with the shots of vodka?"

"Oh, I didn't think to ask if you liked liquor. If you want, I can take these back and get a few –"

"No, no, it's okay," he said, placing his hand on my arm. It was the first non-work-related caress we'd had since Monday, and I tried not to gasp too loudly. A slight hissing was all that managed to escape my lips.

"So, what should we drink to?" I asked, raising my glass.

"A toast, is it?" he asked, picking up his own shot glass. "There's only one thing I'd like to give thanks for at this moment."

"What's that?"

"You," he said, before closing his eyes and downing the stinging liquid with one gulp. I watched the movement of his throat with wide eyes, not quite believing what he'd just said. He'd gone from barely acknowledging me all week to this – this – whatever he'd just done?

"Aren't you going to drink yours?"

"What? Oh, yeah, of course," I said, bringing the glass up to my lips and drinking it down. The warmth of the alcohol slid down my throat smoothly, and I shut my eyes, savoring the feeling. Absolut Citron was my favorite drink, one that I'd discovered a few years ago. I loved its clear, citrus taste. Sort of like lemonade for adults.

When I'd opened my eyes again, Stu was staring at me, much the same way he had in his kitchen right before he kissed me. I thought I saw a flicker of desire flash in his eyes, and I found myself looking down at his lips again, the memory of our kiss playing through my head. Though I think he kissed me then just to make me stop talking at the time, maybe -

"Stu?" I whispered.

"Yeah?"

His husky answer came through those lips my eyes were trained on, and I lifted my gaze up to his. "Remember last weekend, when you kissed me?"

"Yes."

Again, a husky answer, and I shifted in my chair as an unbidden warmth traveled down my spine. "Why – you haven't – would you want –" For some reason, I couldn't form the words for the question that was banging around in my head.

With a mixture of mirth and desire, I watched as Amy's perfect sweetheart bow of a mouth work, opening and closing without actual words or phrases coming out. Mirth because in the short time we'd known each other, I'd never seen her at a loss for words. And desire, because in the few words she had managed to get out, I got the message.

"You want to know why I haven't kissed you again?"

She nodded, the plea shining through her eyes. I nearly reached out for her then.

"And if the kiss had meant anything to me, 'cause it meant something to you?"

Another nod. I was on a roll.

"And if it did mean something, would I want to do it again?"

An almost imperceptible nod, but it was a nod.

"Amy, I've been wanting to do it again ever since I did it the first time, but –" Come on, Stu, don't chicken out now. "Well, I was pretty sick, you know, so I didn't want to risk passing that on to you. And, well, we've been pretty busy all week, and I had to – we had to concentrate on work. And until tonight, until now, in fact, I hadn't really known if you'd wanted to go out with me. I mean, you haven't really said anything all this week about what happened last weekend, you know. What was I supposed to think? I'm not like all these other cool guys, like Auggie or Jai, Amy. I haven't even had a girlfriend since –"

My next words died in my throat as Amy, who'd been leaning toward me during my entire speech, covered the space between us and kissed me. I'd wanted it, God knows I did, but she so surprised me by making the first move, I was nearly frozen with shock.

It was only when she'd pulled back slightly, tilted her head and pressed her lips against mine again did I recover and became cognizant of the fact that Amy Baker, the girl I'd been dreaming about for a week, was, in fact, kissing me.

The sweetness and pureness of her caress weakened me at the knees, and I was grateful to be sitting down. I was also happy that she hadn't pulled back when I hesitated. I brought one hand up to her cheek, caressing the soft skin as I returned her kiss. I kept it fairly innocent, though a more primal urging wanted me to pull her across my lap and enfold her in my arms.

When she pulled away, I allowed my fingers to trace down her jawline to her chin. "It's not fair, you know."

"What do you mean?" she asked, her words nearly a whisper.

"You can't just grab me anytime you want me to shut up," I teased, throwing her words from Monday back at her.

As what I said dawned on her, her eyes lit up, and she smiled, finally giving an all-out laugh. "Oh, so you don't want me to do that anymore?"

Now, this was the Amy I'd glimpsed last weekend, the one who could take some teasing and flirt right back. How the hell did I get so lucky to have her walk into my life?

"You can do that anytime you want, Amy," I answered. "But don't you think we should have an actual date first?"

She tilted her head, "I don't know, Stu. Don't you think dating now is kind of a moot point? We've already kissed twice, and I've seen you half-naked already, not to mention pouring my heart out to you and crying on your shoulder."

"Ha ha, very funny," I said, laughing. "Okay, so here's the plan."

She nodded and clasped her hands on her knees, looking at me with anticipation.

"We're going to leave here in a cab. I'll have the driver drop you off first, during which I will kiss you good night." She smiled at this, and I had to hold myself back from grabbing her again. "Tomorrow, after I've come back here and gotten my car, I'll pick you up at your place at around 6pm. We'll get something to eat, and after we'll take in a movie. Both places can be your choice. Then I will drive you home and, again, kiss you good night. On Sunday afternoon, I will call you and tell you I had a wonderful time the night before, and if you enjoyed it as well, would you be willing to go out with me again."

She didn't say anything, didn't even kiss me to get me to stop. "Is – is that all right?"

"That's more than all right, Stu," she said, reaching over and grabbing my hand. I covered hers with my other one, relief mixed with a healthy amount of happiness washing over me.

She stood, her hand still clasped within mine. "So, shall we put this plan of yours into action?"

"Oh, absolutely," I replied, standing, as well. She linked her hand through my arm, and we walked out. And for the first time in my life, I thought, I was leaving the party with the prettiest girl there.

Chapter 10: Part 2 chapter 2

"Just turn here, and my place is on the right," I said, pointing down the road. Stu slowed and made the turn, and a slight disappointment came over me as I realized our date was coming to an end.

Stu had kept his word and let me choose the restaurant and movie. He'd smirked a bit when we'd arrived at our first destination, but it couldn't be helped. Pizza's one of my favorite foods, and when I'd first moved into the area, I made it my mission to find all the best pizza places around. The one we'd gone to was one of the classiest ones I'd found. It allowed us to sit in a corner booth, and Stu had taken full advantage of the fact, sliding around to sit next to me.

I hadn't minded a bit, but we had to part when the waitress came back with our deep dish. The movie theater didn't pose that problem, as the stadium seating and sparse 10pm crowd allowed us to sit alone in the back. My choice, which I'd agonized over all afternoon, ended up being something I liked – science fiction – and I crossed my fingers hoping he preferred the genre, as well.

Since he paid for the dinner, I'd insisted on paying for the tickets, keeping my choice a secret, even making him close his eyes as we entered the place, until the title sequence started. I'd snuck a glance over at him, and as his eyes lit up and a smile graced his lips, my heart soared.

His hand reached over and grasped mine, and we settled back and watched it like that the entire time. It made sharing the popcorn a bit difficult, but we managed.

We'd lingered over dinner so long and had to wait for the later show, so it was nearly midnight when he pulled up in front of my place, a brick townhouse in a quiet suburb. I'd taken the last of the money I'd received when Mom passed away to buy a place of my own outright instead of renting anywhere.

"This is your place?" he asked, pointing up to the brick townhouse.

"Yeah," I said, unbuckling my seatbelt.

"It's nice," he said, smiling at me warmly. "Wait there."

I did as he asked and watched as he walked around the front of the car. My door opened, and he stood there, his hand held out to me. I placed my hand in his and stepped out, stretching up a bit to brush a kiss on his cheek. It wasn't too much of a stretch, as I'd opted to wear the stilettos he'd banned from the workplace. He still was several inches taller than me, but I didn't mind so much.

He kept hold of my hand as he walked me up the stairs to my door. I took a step up from him and turned, but my heels put me a couple inches above him. I laughed a bit and stepped out of them, dropping my height down directly to his.

"I had a good time tonight, Amy," he said, twisting his fingers around mine.

Our proximity placed him face-to-face to me, and I felt a warmth rush through me. The intensity of his gaze, coupled with such a look of adoration in his soft brown eyes was almost too much, and I felt myself coloring.

"I can't believe I feel almost shy now," I said quietly as he leaned closer to me.

"Shy? It's not our first kiss, Amy," he said with a slight smile, raising his other arm to my elbow.

I placed my hand on his chest, running the lapel of his jacket through my fingers. "I know. Our first was when you were sick, so it really doesn't count."

"And the second, we were drunk," he added, nodding.

"Yeah, and the third, that cab driver was watching," I reminded him.

"So, if you think about it," he said, rubbing his thumb along the inside of my elbow, "this is our first real kiss."

I tilted my head at his logic. "If you want to get technical about it, sure, but –" My argument died in my throat as his gaze slid from my own down to my lips. I was frozen in the moment as the air disappeared between us, and his mouth touched mine. My fingers slid up to his shoulder for balance, and I leaned into him. His hand gripped my elbow tighter, and he released my hand and raised it to my jaw, holding me gently as he angled his lips over mine. A flash of desire zipped through me, and a sigh emitted from me, parting my lips slightly. The soft, hesitant touch of his tongue made me smile a bit, and I met his with my own, returning the caress.

All too soon, the best "first kiss" of my life was over as he pulled back, dropping another kiss on my nose as he did so. "I'll call tomorrow?" he whispered.

I didn't trust my voice at that point, but nodded vigorously. He laughed a bit and squeezed my elbow. "Don't forget."

Shaking my head, I watched as he walked slowly down the stairs and across the sidewalk to his car. He stood at his car door and looked at me expectantly. I smiled, and picking my shoes up, let myself into the house.

Yawning so wide, I was sure my jaw would crack, I stared at the coffeemaker, willing it to work faster. The toast had already popped up, but what I really needed was some caffeine. After Stu had left last night, I'd been too excited to sleep, so it was nearly 2am before I finally dropped off.

The coffeepot stopped gurgling, so I poured a cup and placed the toast on a plate, settling down on my couch. I picked my cellphone up out of its charger where I'd placed it last night and clicked through the notifications. I had one voicemail, so I decided to start with it first, putting it on speaker and taking a drink of my coffee.

"Amy, hi –"

Stu's unmistakable voice echoed through the room, and I set my coffee down, wondering when he'd called. It was late in the morning, but surely I'd have heard it ring.

"I'm sorry for calling so early. You're probably still sleeping. I remembered when I got home last night that I'd promised a friend I'd help him move today. I'm not sure how long it'll take, but I didn't want you to think I'd forgotten my promise to call. So I'm calling now to tell you I had a wonderful time last night, and if you would agree, I'd like to take you out again next weekend. You can leave me a message, or just tell me tomorrow at work. Have a wonderful day, Amy. See you soon."

I'd stared at the phone a full minute after the beep, half-listening to the automated voice saying if I'd like to keep or delete the message, press, et cetera. I'd felt a twinge of disappointment that I'd missed his call – probably when I was in the shower, judging by the time stamp – but I also felt a thrill that he did call. He said he'd call, and he called.

Giving a little squeal of happiness, I pressed 1 to play the message again.

The door to tech ops slid open, and I looked up from my computer to see Auggie walk through. He stopped a couple of feet in and turned his head in my direction. "Stu?"

"Yeah, Aug."

He chuckled. "You're here, early, on a Monday?"

"The traffic lights were with me," I fibbed, bending down to my monitor again. Actually, I'd hoofed it this morning and made it in a full hour earlier than usual 'cause I'd selfishly wanted to get through my e-mail and other desk duties before Amy made it in. I still felt bad about having to leave her a message yesterday morning, and almost called her again when I'd finally made it home last night. But I'd chickened out, not wanting to seem too desperate. But I had missed her, more than I thought I would. I'd realized as I went to bed that it was the first day in two weeks I hadn't seen her or heard her voice.

"How's the database project going?" Auggie asked, settling into his workstation.

"Great, actually. We'll be done way before the deadline, so Joan should be pleased."

"You and Amy?"

"Huh?" I asked, dumbstruck by his question. Did he suspect that –

"Amy's been helping, right?"

"Oh, yes, of course. She's a great help," I said, cursing myself that I'd nearly given myself away. Glancing up at him, I saw his forehead crease a bit at my hurried answer, but he didn't press the issue.

An hour later, the door slid open again, this time admitting Annie, who gave a greeting to Auggie while looking around the room. Her eyes lit on me, and she smiled. "There you are."

"Where else should I be?" I asked.

"Apparently in the tech center. Amy was looking for you," she said, raising her eyebrow.

I looked at my watch and realized how long I'd been there. Amy would have arrived a half hour ago, and we'd been doing the majority of our work in the tech center. "Damn, I'm late. Did she seem mad?" I asked, powering down my computer and standing. Not waiting for Annie to answer, I grabbed my jacket and walked out.

"So, you gonna pay up now?" Annie asked, perching herself on Auggie's desk.

Auggie frowned, then shook his head. "Unless Stu used sign language to tell you something, there was nothing in that exchange to prove that he and Amy are together."

Annie rolled her eyes at him, "You only witnessed half of the performance. Amy seemed almost distraught when she came out of the tech center 15 minutes ago, asking if I'd seen Stu. I'd only just gotten here, so I said no, but the disappointment on her face was clear."

"Uh-uh, to make this fair, remember, the terms we agreed to was verbal confirmation," Auggie reminded her. "And it's only been two weeks. As long as I've known Stu, it's taken him that long to work up the nerve to say hello to a girl."

"If you say so, but Auggie, think about it. They've been working close together for two weeks now," Annie said, counting out on her fingers. "You said yourself that she'd gone over his place when he was sick, and he brought her out Friday to the tavern with all of us."

"We all were there, Annie, that doesn't prove anything."

"You just don't want to give up the 20 bucks," Annie huffed. "Fine, I'll wait."

"Annie?" he called as she walked away. "No matchmaking. They've gotta do this on their own."

Sticking her tongue out at him, Annie slid the door open and walked out.

Chapter 11: Part 2 chapter 3

I hurried down the hallway to the tech center, shrugging into my suit jacket. Annie had said Amy was looking for me, and I hoped she didn't think I'd forgotten about her. Opening the door, the cool air rushed past my ears as I stepped inside.

"Amy?"

The room appeared empty, with no one at the stacks. The computer alongside the wall was on, but the chair was empty. Calling out her name again, I walked around the stacks.

There she stood, a notebook in her hand and pencil dangling from her fingers. She seemed to be deep in thought, so I walked up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. "I take it you were looking for me?"

Amy let out an almost inaudible shriek as she jumped away from my touch. "Stu! Don't sneak up on me like that."

"Sorry," I said, chuckling and raising my hands in surrender. "I did call your name, though."

"With all the fans going on in here, you can't hear anything, you know that," she said. "But, I am glad you're here. I missed you yesterday."

"You got my message, right?"

"Yes," Amy said, walking the few steps up to me until only a few inches separated us. She looped her arms up around my neck and said, "And to answer your questions, I had a wonderful time, too, and I would like to go out with you this weekend."

She pulled down with her fingertips, tugging my head nearer hers. She was about to press her lips to mine when I pulled back, though it took a great amount of restraint on my part. Extricating her fingers from my neck, I held them between mine, stroking her palm.

"Is - is something wrong?" she asked.

"I should have said something this weekend, but - if we're going to do this, I can't - it needs to be outside of the office," I said.

Amy's gaze dropped from mine, and she tried to pull her fingers away, but I held fast. "Oh, okay. I guess I misunderstood all this."

"No, no," I said. When she continued to try to pull away, I dropped her hands, and before she could walk away, placed both hands on either side of her face. With a gentle pressure, I forced her gaze back up to mine. Her emerald green eyes were slightly hooded, a hint of hurt in them, and I felt a bit of pain flash through me as I realize I'm the one that put it there. I pressed a quick, hot kiss on her lips before continuing, "You misunderstood nothing."

"Then why -"

"Think about it, Amy," I said, dropping my hands from her face and stepping away. "That room out there, hell, the entire building is full of spies. Literally. Most of them are very nice people and good friends, but they're spies, and the gossip mill in this place is second-to-none. I try not to listen to it and try not to get involved, but they'd enjoy nothing more than a new story. You don't deserve that."

"I wasn't going to say anything, Stu," Amy said, her voice dropping to almost a whisper. "I'm a pretty private person myself."

"So am I," I agreed, then laughed, though it sounded hollow even to my ears. "They're probably already talking about Friday night. I mean, everybody had left by the time we - I just don't think we should give them anymore ammunition."

"Agreed," Amy said with a rueful smile. "But - oh, no."

"What is it?"

"Joan," Amy said, bringing her hand up to her mouth. "Joan probably knows about it."

"How -"

"Oh, this is so embarrassing," she said, shaking her head. "After I'd gone over to your place Thursday, remember, when you were sick? I'd – well, I was starting to feel something for you then, and the next day, I'd been worried because I assumed coworkers weren't allowed to date. I ran into Joan, and she could see that I was upset, so I asked her about it. Don't worry, I didn't mention any names, just asked, you know, in general, if it was all right to date co-workers."

"Wait a second," I said, leaning against the wall and crossing my arms across my chest. "This is two Fridays ago?"

Amy nodded, her fingers still against her mouth.

"And you were upset 'cause you wanted to get involved with me, and didn't think it was allowed."

Another nod.

"Really?"I asked, a smile of satisfaction crossing my face.

"Don't get cocky," Amy said, rolling her eyes at me. "I wasn't even sure about anything at that point, but I didn't want to start, you know, thinking about you like that until I knew."

"I'm just surprised is all," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "Auggie's the one that greeted you, right? Your first day?"

"Yeah, but what -"

"Just listen," I said, raising a hand. "I hate to talk about him like this, behind his back, 'cause he's a good friend, but Auggie's a huge flirt."

Amy smirked, and I could tell from her face that she couldn't quite believe what I was saying.

"I'm not lying. He's known for telling every new woman he meets that - how does he put it? Something like, 'The CIA highly encourages in-house dating.'"

Amy giggled at my dead-on impersonation of Auggie, but she soon shook her head again.

"He didn't say anything?" I asked.

"No, maybe he just didn't think of me like that."

I scoffed, "Considering you're one of the most beautiful women here, and believe me, Auggie can tell, blind or not, I find it surprising he didn't use one of his famous lines on you."

"Really?"

"Really, though he's kind of slowed down over the past few months, ever since Annie came on board," I said thoughtfully, thinking back on it. "In fact –"

"No," Amy said, shaking her head, "I mean, you really think I'm beautiful?"

"Of course I do. Haven't I told you that already?"

Amy shook her head, her eyes wide.

"You are, believe me," I said, pushing himself off the wall and walking up to her. "But it still doesn't explain Auggie's behavior."

I could see her thinking, and after a minute, her eyes met mine again.

"Oh, I think I know why. I kind of made him mad."

"How did you do that?" I asked in disbelief.

"Well, we were talking about my duties and everything, and I asked if I could borrow his laser cane."

My eyebrows shot up at this confession, my mouth dropping open.

"I didn't want to steal it," she said quickly. "I just wanted to see how it worked, but I'm not sure he believed me. Anyway, he said it was a prototype, one-of-a-kind, and well, just no."

I stared at her for another few seconds before I started laughing. I can't believe this girl. Here she was, a young, beautiful newbie about to step into the world of the CIA. A handsome, flirtatious man approaches her, and she asks if she can dissect his cane? I walked over to her and enveloped her in my arms and dropping a kiss on the top of her head as it rested against my chest.

Her arms wrapped around my back, and we stood there, caught up in our own world. A wondrous thought flashed through my mind after a minute. I could really love this girl.

Sudden and unexpected, it struck me hard, and my arms clenched around her a bit. I wanted nothing more at that moment but to stay there with her forever, but I felt her begin to pull away. I resisted for a split second, but realized what I was doing and released her.

"So," I said, nothing how husky and thick my voice was. I coughed a bit to clear it. "What do you say we get back to work?"

"Umm, sure," Amy said, bending down to pick up the notebook she'd dropped.

Chapter 12: Part 2 chapter 4

"Thank you," I said, smiling wide at the barista, who halfway returned it and looked over my head to the next customer.

I cautiously picked up the cardboard holder with the four tall cups of coffee drinks in it with one hand. My other held the two brownies that I'd also purchased. One for myself, the other for Stu, who, on our date Saturday night, admitted it was one of his weaknesses. He'd then proceeded to dive into his piece of chocolate cheesecake and also half of mine.

I hoped he didn't mind the small present, given that we're officially on company time. We'd both kept our promise to not show any hint of our relationship while at work and spent time together only on the weekends. It wasn't the most traditional of setups, but I didn't mind too much. We spent every day at work together, and talked on the phone or chatted on our computers every night. The past two weeks since he'd returned to work from being sick had us nearly joined at the hip.

The decision to purchase so much at once, though, might have been a mistake as the heaviness and liquidity of the parcel in my left hand threatened to topple. I slowed my steps and walked carefully out of the food court and down the long hall back to the DPD. Maybe I should have made two trips, I thought.

My focus was so concentrated on balancing the coffees, I didn't hear the approaching footsteps. A hand at the center of my back gave me the only warning, but thankfully it was gentle enough that I didn't jump.

"May I give you a hand?" a smooth, friendly voice said above me and to my left. Before I could answer, the coffees were taken from my grip. The hand was much larger than my own and, I saw, able to keep a steadier grip on the containers.

"Thank you," I said, raising my head to her savior, who smiled down at me. I knew I remembered him as someone I'd met my first day here, but his name escaped me. His looks, on the other hand, were unforgettable. Tall, blonde, handsome, with a charming smile.

"Not a problem, Amy," he replied smoothly.

My name slipped so easily off his tongue, yet for the life of me, I couldn't remember his. "We've met before, haven't we?"

"Guess you've forgotten me already," he said, his mouth turning down in mock frown. "I should be hurt. Conrad Sheehan. I met you a few weeks ago. I believe it was your first day? "

"Yes, of course, Conrad," I said. "Nice to meet you again. I'm -"

"Amy Baker, I remember. I haven't seen you since that day, though. Don't tell me Auggie's keeping you locked up somewhere."

I blushed a little at Conrad's intense gaze on me. I didn't know if it was his height or interest or the fact that I felt his hand ghosting somewhere between my shoulder blades as we walked.

"Well, no, I'm working on a database project, back in tech center ," I said, trying to keep my nervousness down. "It's kind of restricted, so I haven't gotten – "

Conrad interrupted, "And why would the DPD sequester such a beautiful woman like that?"

My blush flashed crimson in my cheeks, and I concentrated on my breathing to get myself back together. "Well, it's my job, I'm a tech analyst. That's where the computers are," I said, laughing a little at my joke.

Shaking his head, he said, "In my opinion, you're being wasted down here. You should consider applying for operative status, get out in the field, meet people."

I started him, flabbergasted. Did I hear him right? Become an operative? Join in with the likes of Annie and Jai? It seemed too good to be true. "R - really? Why do you say that? "

"Beauty and brains don't often come through here. We could use you up on the seventh flooor," Conrad said. "And here we are."

I looked up to see we'd made it to the large glass doors of the DPD, and I tucked the bag of brownies under my arm arm and took the coffees back from Conrad. As he handed them to me, I could swear I felt his finger gliding along the back of my hand. "Thank you, Conrad."

"No problem," he replied. "Think about what I've said, okay? Here," he said, reaching into an interior pocket and pulling out a business card. A pen came, as well, and he scribbled on the back of it. "Give me a call once you decide to come up from the basement."

As my hands were full, Conrad tucked the card into the front pocket of my jacket, and opening the door, he winked at me as I walked through.

Still a bit dazed by the past few minutes' conversation, I walked slowly into tech ops, thinking about what he'd said. Could I really bebecome an operative? Someone like Annie, who traveled all over the world, kicking butt and taking names? I loved my current job, but Conrad was right. My duties kept me kind of sequestered away from people and my eyes glued on a computer monitor.

"Amy, what took you so long?"

I looked up to see the bearded, lumbering Barber walking toward me. "Umm, well -"

"No problem, you're here now, and you got my drink. Thanks," he said, grabbing his drink out of the container. His other hand came up, patted me on the head, and he left, sliding the door shut behind him.

I clenched her teeth at his condescension. I'd told him at least a few times not to do that, but apparently he had a brick in his head where a brain should be.

"Amy?"

"Huh?" I said, looking around. Auggie sat at his desk, his head tilted towards me expectantly. "Oh, yeah, here," I said, taking his from the container and setting it on his desk. "Where's Stu?"

"Tech center. You know you can't take that in there," he said, popping open the lid to take a sip.

"I know." With a sigh, I crossed the room and set the paper bag and remaining two coffees on my desk. "I'll go get him."

"Stu?" I asked, opening the tech center door. Not seeing him by the stacks, I looked around by the desk and saw him hunched there, working. "Stu, I got your coffee."

"Hey, Amy," Stu said, standing up from the desk.

"It's on my desk," I said as he walked up to me. I smiled as he crossed the space between us. Though over the past couple of weeks, we'd kept our relationship status a secret from our coworkers, oftentimes when we were alone like this, he'd relent enough for a stolen hug or small kiss.

"We'll need some caffeine today to get all the work done Auggie's assigned," he said, patting me on the shoulder as he walked past.

I watched as he walked out of the room, a flutter of disappointment flaring. That's it? A pat on the shoulder? No thanks for going out of my way to get his favorite drink and the brownies? Well, he didn't know about the brownies, but had he stopped for just a moment, I would have been able to tell him. Then again, I thought, maybe I'll eat them both myself.

At the end of the workday, I found myself in the restroom, washing my hands without really noticing what I was doing. My mind was still reeling and mulling over what Conrad had said to me that morning. I'd never really thought about anything other than working in the technology field my entire life. It hadn't been an easy ride, either, given the chauvinism that'd flared its ugly head more than a few times. Even here, I thought. I mean, no one was out-and-out telling me I had no business in this type of field, but Barber's condescending remarks and pats on my head spoke volumes.

Auggie seemed to be the only one who accepted me and and showed appreciation for my talents, but he's the head of the department, I thought. He was probably trained not to make any type of remarks that could be deemed as sexual harassment.

And then there was Stu. My eyes closed at the thought of him. He was wonderful, thoughtful, and boy, could he kiss. If I did choose to be an operative, as Conrad said I should, maybe we'd be able to have a more open relationship. I'd seen more than a few couples at this place. And it'd be so much more fulfilling if we could exchange a hug in the hallway or have lunch together.

One of the stalls opened, and the click of heels across the tiles to the sink beside her brought me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see Annie in the mirror. "Hey, Annie."

"Amy, how's it going? Auggie treating you right?" she asked with a smile.

Shrugging, I turned off the water and walked over to the paper dispenser, pulling out a couple of towels. "Annie, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what do you need to know?"

I took a deep breath before asking, "How long does it take to train to become an operative?"

Annie froze for a couple of seconds washing her hands, then quickly rinsed them off. "It depends, really, on exactly what you're training for. The FARM itself is a year long."

"Ohh," I said, a bit disappointed, as I dried off my fingers. "I didn't think it'd be that long."

"Are you thinking of leaving the support team?" she asked, and I looked up, seeing how concerned she looked.

I quickly schooled my features into a smile, "No, nothing like that. Just like keeping my options open." Balling up the paper, I tossed it in the trash can and left.

This isn't good, Annie thought, hurriedly drying her own hands. A trip to tech ops would clear up a few things. Amy had only been here a few weeks, surely nothing could have happened in that amount of time to put her off her job so soon. Then, Annie thought of Stu. Her and Auggie's bet as to whether or not the tech analysts were seeing each other outside the agency was just for fun, but what if something was going on between them?

Thankfully, the person she was hoping to see hadn't left yet. Annie slid open the door and shut it again quickly, glancing around to make sure no one but Auggie was in the room.

"Hey, Annie. Come to offer your best friend a ride home?" he asked with a hopeful smile.

"Not now, Auggie," Annie said, walking over and leaning against the side of his desk. "You've got a problem."

"Huh?"

"Your newest recruit is thinking of leaving. She's only been here a few weeks, Auggie. What the hell have you guys done to her?"

"What? Nothing, she's fit in fine. In fact, she's smarter than most of us. Why would I let that kind of talent go?" Auggie asked.

"She's just asked me how long it takes to become an operative. I think she wants to switch sides," Annie explained, crossing her arms in front of her. "Now, why would a new recruit want to do that?"

"You think this has something to do with Stu, don't you?" Auggie asked.

"Got it in one, cowboy. They've been working together all this time, right?"

Auggie nodded, "Yeah, on the database. Pretty much tied at the hip, figuratively speaking."

"Right, but if my suspicions are correct, it's more than a figure of speech. You think something's gone wrong between the two of them?"

"I don't know," Auggie sighed. "I can't afford to lose either of them, though."

"Talk to Stu, maybe he can shed some light on it," Annie said, pushing away from his desk. "And I can't drive you home. I have to watch Danielle's kids tonight."

Auggie groaned and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples. Geez, what the hell has Stu gotten himself into, he thought. He'd never had a problem like this before, as Amy had been the first woman to breach the walls of the tech ops. He almost wished he could ask Joan for advice, but that'd be involving way too many people for what was probably a simple misunderstanding.

Well, Annie said he should talk to Stu, and as far as he knew, he was still in the tech center. He knew Amy had already left, as he heard her gather her stuff 15 minutes ago and leave.

"Well, Stu?"

"I don't know what you want me to say, Auggie," I replied, still stunned by my boss' words. "I mean, yeah, what you and Annie guessed at was right, though I promised Amy we'd keep this out of the office. We've been dating for a couple of weeks now. I really like her, but I haven't said anything to her to make her want to suddenly leave, I promise."

"I'm not blaming you, Stu," Auggie said, and I watched as he rubbed his temples as he often did when he had a headache. "But you're closer to her than any of us. We can't afford to lose her. I need you to talk to her."

Two hours later, I stood on the steps of Amy's townhouse, thoughts swirling in my head. I'd been racking my brain ever since Auggie told me Amy asked him about leaving, and I couldn't think of one thing that had happened, at work, or between us personally, that'd make her want to leave.

Well, I thought, there's only one way to find out. Quickly trotting up the stairs to her red-painted door, I rang her doorbell. The sight that greeted me, though, made me temporarily forget what I came there to do in the first place.

"Stu?" Amy asked, opening the door. "What are you doing here? Is everything all right?"

Her words shook me out of my trance, and I looked up from her attire of bare feet, shorts and a tank top into her eyes. She looked worried and a bit apprehensive.

"Can I come in?" I asked, taking a step closer to her.

"Yes, of course," she said, opening the door wider for me to enter. I walked through and into her living room. My eyes glanced around, taking in the bookcases, furniture and impressive computer setup. A smile crossed my face as I realized her place nearly mimicked mine in layout. She'd been to my place, of course, but this was the first time in our budding relationship that I'd crossed her threshold.

"Your place is nice," I commented, turning back to her. "Do you rent this, or –"

"Stu, why are you here?" she interrupted, and I saw worry cross her features, making her mouth downturn at the edges. "Weren't we supposed to see each other this weekend?"

I nodded. She stood a few feet away, her arms crossed over her chest in defiance. Her hair fell in waves around her shoulders, and coupled with her outfit, I wanted nothing more than to fold her in my arms and beg her to stay. I needed answers first, though, and as she's pointed out to me in the past, it's not fair just to grab her to get her to stop doing something.

"I just needed to talk to you," I said.

"Umm, okay," she said. "Couldn't you have done that with a phone call?"

I took a deep breath, thinking hard. Maybe it was just better to come out with it. "Do you really want to become a field agent?"

I saw her mouth drop open, and her hands dropped to her sides. "Jesus! I only mentiondd that to Annie a few hours ago, how –"

"I warned you about the gossip mill," I said with a sardonic laugh.

"And you just jumped onto it, huh?" she retorted, angrily. "And ran right over here, flinging your accusations."

"What? No!" I said, taking a couple of steps toward her. The look on her face, though, warned me to stop.

"But you listened to it didn't you?" she said. "And came running over here in the middle of the night to accuse me."

"It's not the middle of the night, Amy," I replied. "Just answer the question, do you really want to leave?" I bit my tongue to add the word "me" to the question, though I wanted to.

She sighed and shook her head. Walking over to her couch, she dropped down into it, and I followed her, sitting on the other end. She turned toward me and said, "Stu, all that happened is that I ran into Conrad Sheehan in the hallway. You know him, right?"

I nodded, and she continued, "We talked, and well, he said I had potential to be an operative."

I waited for her to continue, but when she didn't, I couldn't believe it. That's her excuse? "I'm sure he did," I scoffed.

"Stu!" she admonished.

I shook my head at the absurdity of it all. All this worry, this back-and-forth between Amy and Annie and Auggie and him all because Amy got hit on by one of the more suave agents in the CIA. "Did he give you his number?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow at her.

"What?" Amy said in disbelief. "What business is that of yours?"

"Did he?" I pressed.

"Well, yes, but –"

"Don't you see what he's doing, Amy?" I said, scooting a couple of inches toward her. "You think Auggie's a flirt? Well, Conrad's worse. He works for Arthur Campbell, and he's up there on the top floor, schmoozing with all the higher ups, and has a roving eye for all the young, impressionable, naive newbies, taking them out for drinks and whatever."

I saw her blink hard at my words left my mouth. "I beg your pardon? That's what you think of me? What you think I am? An impressionable, young, naive newbie?"

"Come on, Amy, that's not what I meant, and you know it," I said, reaching out for her hand on the couch between us. She pulled it away as my fingers touched hers.

She stood up, and I saw her throat work as she swallowed. Her eyes started blinking, as if she was fighting back tears. "I think it is," she said hoarsely. "I also think you need to leave."

"Amy, come on," I said, standing up quickly and walking toward her. I tried reaching for her again, but she stepped away and turned her back on me.

"Please, just leave," she said, wrapping her arms around herself.

I could hear it, the tears in her voice, and I longed to wipe them away, envelope her in my arms and kiss away her pain, but I couldn't. I'd hurt her. Unintentionally, but nevertheless, there was no mistaking the stiffness of her shoulders or the hollowness of her words. I could kick myself, as what I said replayed back in my ears. How could you be so stupid, I thought. I opened my mouth to apologize, to say something to ease her palpable pain, but the words died on my tongue.

What could I say? My brain was in a whirl, and my chest had started to tighten in reaction to seeing her in pain. Knowing that I'd caused it made it all the more worse.

Quietly, and against all every thread of my being that was screaming at me to go to her, fall on my knees and beg her for forgiveness, I turned and left.

Chapter 13: Part 2 chapter 5

I strode down the hallway to the DPD the next morning, my 4-inch high stilettos clicking loud as I walked. I didn't care if they were frowned on for support people to wear; I was tired of being told what to do. Tired of being patted on the head and looked down upon. They made me feel more powerful, and given what I was about to do, a bit of soul-boosting is just what I needed.

After Stu had left last night, I'd allowed myself to cry, full out, for an hour before finally wiping my cheeks and giving myself a stern talking-to. I'd heard my mother's voice in my head as I'd sobbed, telling me I could do anything I'd wanted. I'd been gifted with my intelligence, and I should use it. My mother would not want me to wallow in self-pity, and if I were truthful to myself, I didn't want to, either.

I may be young, and as Stu said last night, a bit naive, but I could learn. I could learn from my mistakes and carry on. Step one was doing what I'd only thought of superfivically yesterday, but when I woke this morning, I knew I had to.

Conrad's business card was tucked into my skirt pocket, and I planned on using it, but protocol deemed it necessary to gain permission from my boss first. I was grateful that Auggie was the only one in tech ops at this time of the morning.

I'd give Barber a piece of my mind later. Stu was another matter. One that I again pushed to the back of my mind. I knew the time would come when we'd see each other again, but I couldn't think about that now. Right now, I had to talk to Auggie.

"Excuse me, Auggie? May I speak with you a moment?" I kept my voice strong and professional, hoping it, along with my carefully chosen words, would show him how serious I was.

"Amy, is that you?" Auggie asked, turning toward the door.

"Yes," I said, taking a seat beside his desk.

"You're wearing different shoes today," he noted. "For a moment, I thought it was Annie, but you don't wear any perfume."

"No, I don't. I need your permission to apply for operative training," I stated bluntly.

The easy smile slid off Auggie's face. "Okay, I take it this has something to do with Stu?"

I shook my head and stood, stalking to the other side of the desk, trying to keep my emotions in cheek. "Will you approve my request or not?"

"Not until I get some answers," he said harshly. "Now, sit back down."

I walked back over to the chair beside him, my stilettos clicking loudly.

"Speak."

My own anger began to rise. What did he think I was, a dog? Taking a deep breath, I reiterated my request. "Will you approve my application for operative training?"

"No, no," Auggie said, leaning forward in his chair toward me. Lowering his voice, he said, "What happened between you and Stu? And don't try to deny it. I already know you've been seeing each other, but both of you are too valuable to me and to this department. I'm not letting either of you go until I know the reasons behind it. Speak."

I bristled at his words, but I forced myself herself to take a deep breath, running my hands through my hair. Maybe I was being too defensive, I thought. Auggie hadn't done a thing to me, and here I was, taking it all out on him. I thought back on everything that's happened in the past few weeks, and as Auggie sat looking at me expectantly, I began to speak, starting with visiting Stu the week he was sick, tactfully glossed over the more intimate details. He nodded when I mentioned when they'd been at Allen's Tavern, and how they'd talked and agreed to date.

I'd gotten to yesterday morning and my meeting with Conrad when Auggie's eyebrows shot up. He didn't say anything, though, and I told him of our conversation, and later, Stu's visit to my house and what he'd said.

When I'd finished, I waited for him to answer. It took a full minute, but soon he leaned back in his chair and smiled at me. "I hate to tell you this, Amy, but Stu was right."

"Wh - what?" I wasn't sure what he was going to tell me, but agreeing with Stu wasn't what I was expecting.

"Conrad is a flirt," Auggie said, laughing, "and I'm sure he was just hitting on you. I have no doubt you would make a good CIA operative, on par with Annie, but your true calling? I don't think so. You're good at what you do, or I wouldn't have recommended you. I knew it from the moment you asked to borrow my laser cane to find out how it worked."

I choked back a laugh, coloring a bit at the memory.

"Do you still want to go?" Auggie asked.

"No, of course not," I said. "I feel a little embarrassed, though. Guess I am a naive newbie."

"You aren't the first one in the world dazzled by Conrad's megawatt smile," he said. "You won't be the last."

"Thanks, Auggie," I said, standing and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"No problem. What are you going to do about Stu?"

"I don't know," I sighed, taking a few steps away. "I think I've done too much damage."

"Why don't you go talk to him? He got in early, too," Auggie said, "and said he was going to work on the database."

"Okay," I said, walking out of the office.

Auggie waited until he heard her heels click away before he got up, slid open his door and walked up to Annie's desk. When she asked what he wanted, he put a finger to his lips and motioned for her to follow him.

On the short walk from tech ops to the tech center, I thought over what Auggie had said and my own reaction to the whole situation. Talking it through with him put a few things in perspective, the main one being that, though he could have phrased it better, what Stu said last night was the absolute truth.

I'd been summarily flattered by Conrad, and had I known his interest was purely superficial at the time, I probably would have smiled and said no, thanks anyway, and gotten on with my work.

But I hadn't, and I'd allowed myself to be taken in. I'd wondered last night why Stu couldn't have just called her, and now I knew the answer. He'd come directly to me, obviously upset by the prospect of me leaving and explained the situation. Had my thoughts not been on the defensive already, maybe I would have believed him, but they weren't. Hearing that I was the subject of gossip between those I'd grown closest to in my short time at the DPD had made me angry, and I took it out on the one person who didn't deserve it.

That person who now, as I walked into the tech center, sat at the computer, his elbows on the table and his face in his hands. His entire posture was one of a man defeated.

My heels clicked across the tiles as I crossed the room, but he didn't move. He also didn't move as I walked up behind him and slid my arms around his neck, crossing my hands across his chest and pressing my cheek against his hair. A slight shudder emanated through him, though, and I closed my eyes, willing him, wanting him to accept my embrace.

"Aren't you going to tell me to let go, that we shouldn't be doing this at work?" I whispered.

Her voice, soft in my ear, melted the hurt and pain in my heart just a little, and I dropped my hands from my face. "I thought you were leaving," I said, grasping onto her hands as they lay on my chest, pressing them to him.

She shook her head slightly, "No, I'm staying. I talked it over with Auggie, and I'm sorry. You were right about Conrad, and - I know you were just looking out for me."

I nodded, "I'm sorry, too, about what I said."

"Can I come over tonight?" she asked softly. "I mean, I know it's not Friday yet, or -"

Half-turning in the chair, I reached a hand up to cup the back of her head as she leaned over me and pressed a soft kiss against her lips, silencing her. As her eyes fluttered back open, I looked deep into their green depths.

"I love you, Amy," I said. Her eyes widened at my profession, and I continued, "You don't have to say anything back. I just wanted you to know in case another tall, handsome stranger tries to take you away from me again."

She blinked once, and when her eyes opened again, they were full of such adoration and depth of feeling, my breath caught in my throat.

"You're the only tall, handsome man I want, Stu," she whispered, tightening her arms around my shoulders. "And I'm pretty sure I love you, too."

As the couple continued to embrace and whisper, Annie silently closed the door again. "Well, Auggie? Seems you owe me 20 bucks."

Auggie rolled his eyes as he gripped her elbow, and they began to walk back to the bullpen. "Nah, it's old news by now. I knew they were together yesterday."

"Yesterday? Why didn't you tell me?" Annie cried. "Oh, wait, is that why she was asking me about becoming an operative? Did they -"

"Now, Annie," he said, patting her arm. "Don't you think office gossip has done enough damage for the day?"

Chapter 14: Part 2 chapter 6

The day passed both slowly and quickly, and I couldn't have cared less for either. The only thing I cared about was the fact that Amy was still here, still beside me. Still shooting sidelong glances my way. We'd held onto each other for a half an hour after I'd made my confession. Though I told her she needn't have responded, my soul jumped for joy when she had.

For, when I'd left her last night, I did something I hadn't done for years. I'd cried. Not that I thought it wasn't manly to cry or anything like that. I'd just led such a simple and uncomplicated life, heartbreak and heartache never touched me. Until last night, until I'd opened my big mouth and, while trying to explain to Amy that Conrad's intentions weren't intentional, wound up hurting her deeply.

I knew that, though Amy had a tough, hard exterior, intelligent and go-getting, that shell held a tender heart. One that gave up her dreams of working in the CIA to take care of her dying mother. A heart that wiped the forehead of a coworker she'd barely known as he battled the flu and later made him soup. A tender constitution that, when learning she'd been the subject of unwarranted gossip, turned to stone and drove everyone away. Turned me away.

I'd been so sure I'd lost her for good after she'd turned her back to me last night and told me to leave. I didn't want to. God knows, I'd wanted to fall to my knees and beg her forgiveness. I'd known for a while that Amy was special, and it was only a day or two ago that I knew my fondness had turned to something much deeper. Maybe I should have said something then. If I had, would she still thought of leaving? Would she had still been so dazzled by super agent Conrad if I hadn't insisted that our relationship be kept at home and on the weekends?

These questions kept racing around my head all day, and indeed, all evening as I waited by my car outside of my apartment building for Amy to park. She'd asked if she could come over tonight, and I said yes readily. If she decided to move in permanently, I'd say yes in a heartbeat, as well. I was never letting her go.

Her small hand fit perfectly into mine as we walked up to my apartment building. The short elevator ride up to my floor seemed to take forever, but I was granted one blessing by it. The reflective surface of the walls showed a couple, both with smiles on their faces, standing close to each other, their hands tightly joined.

The elevator dinged, and I walked forward, pulling Amy behind me as we approached my apartment door. As we got closer, my heart began to pound with anticipation. Aside from the handful of glorious days we'd spent together behind that door, Amy had not entered it since. We'd kept our relationship simple and easy, the times we'd gone out had always ended with me driving her home and kissing her good night. A few times the embraces had gotten quite passionate, but we'd always parted. I'd let her lead, and took every embrace, every touch as if it were my last.

But no – now we were going inside, and I tried not to let my nervousness show. I'd gotten the door unlocked and opened, stepped inside and Amy followed. I'd turned to shut the door and reset the deadbolt when I felt her hands on my shoulders. The touch was so akin to this morning that I shuddred again, dropping my head against the door as my knees weakened. God, I'm such a sap. Turning slowly, I leaned back against the door, and she stepped up to me, pressing her face against my chest and her arms around my waist. At some point in the last few seconds, she must have slid out of her shoes. I hadn't cared either way what she wore. Whether she was in complete eyeline with me or not, she was still the same wonderful woman.

A woman who had chosen me, chosen to love me as much as I loved her. That fact, as new and unbelievable as it was, made me smile, and I returned her embrace, wrapping my arms around her, bringing her closer to me.

"How did I get so lucky to get you?" I whispered into her hair.

Her shoulders shook with her laughter as she turned her head to the side and said, "I was thinking the same thing. Would – would you like to know when I first fell for you?"

"My ego's already pretty swelled at this point just by you being here, but sure, why not?" I joked.

She pulled back a little and looked up at me, tilting her head to the side as she always did. I'd come to understand that stance as her way of saying "Oh, really?"

"That first day when we met," she confessed.

Given the fact that our first day was filled with misunderstandings, no less than three arguments, and only the intervention of Auggie saving the day, her answer perplexed me, and my disbelief must have showed.

"But then you had to open your mouth and ruin the whole thing," she added with a smile.

I laughed out loud and hugged her to me. "I still can't believe you're here with me," I said honestly.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked, running her hands up my chest to rest them on my shoulders.

"Because, Amy," I said, mimicking her movements to lay my hands on her shoulders. My thumbs ran along her collarbone, and I risked looking into her emerald eyes before continuing. "I'm a geek, and geeks never get the girl. When you told me about Conrad, I'd –"

Her fingers shot up from my chest to cover my lips, and she lifted up on tiptoe to replace them with her lips. "Don't ever put yourself down like that again. You're beautiful, Stu. Beautiful to me, as well as being funny, and smart. You were patient with me when I first started at the DPD, when others wouldn't have been. You're a complete gentleman, and I've never felt more safe nor cared for than when I'm right here."

She'd finished talking and settled back down onto her heels when I felt the emotion that had been building in my chest burst, and I felt a tear escape and drip onto my cheek. With a sudden rush of love for this being in front of me, I grasped her face between my hands and dipped my head down, kissing her, imprinting myself on her, nearly branding her with my love. She'd brought me to my knees and pulled me back up again, and if I weren't scared that she'd go running into the night, I would have proposed to her right then and there.

When I felt her start to gasp for air – indeed my own lungs were burning – I pulled back and rested my forehead on hers. "This is getting awfully mushy, don't you think?" I heard her say. I laughed again, my shoulders shaking.

Pushing myself away from the door, I grabbed her hand and headed to the kitchen.

"Where are we going?" she asked, trotting along behind me.

"Well, you took care of me for so long, don't you think it's about time I returned the favor?" I said, depositing her on a stool beside the counter.

"You're going to cook for me?" I nodded, and she smiled. "Wow, a handsome geek who can cook. I think I'm in love."

"You ain't seen nothing yet, Miss Baker," I said, throwing her a wink over my shoulder as I opened the refrigerator.

THE END


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